


In the Dark of the Night

by liquid_sunshine



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, My First Fanfic, Reunions, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:34:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28645311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liquid_sunshine/pseuds/liquid_sunshine
Summary: Following their joint birthday bash, Tora and Poppy continue to awkwardly stumble around defining their relationship. Just as things start to fall into place for the happy couple, strange things keep happening. Tora fears his worst nightmare is coming true, but Poppy knows that the worst nightmares aren’t always the ones you see while you sleep. Will they be able to beat the shadow from the past that is haunting them?Original characters belong to the wonderful Lily Dusk and her webtoon Midnight Poppy Land. If you haven’t already checked it out, please do!Lilydusk's guidelines for Fan Creations:Fanwork creator is free to create any kinds of fan creations and share them on any public or private platform as long as the creator acknowledges that:1. No profit is to be made from fan creation.2. Any resemblance that the original piece bears to fan creation is coincidental and unintentional,3. Fan creation is to be a transformative work, derived from a single idea, a single sketch, or a small percentage of the original piece.
Relationships: Tora/Poppy Wilkes
Comments: 59
Kudos: 51





	1. The Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, so this is my first fanfiction! I like my stories with a little bit more angst and thrill alongside my healthy dosage of spice; so hope you won’t mind if I pull your heartstrings in that way. I like to lean into the darker side of MPL, so a lot of this and potentially other stories I write will have that element to it. But I promise to put in lots of fluffy chapters to balance it all out haha! I am new to story writing so there are going to be plot points from other popular stories/media that you may recognize. I also am new to AO3 so I haven’t read all the MPL fanfic out there so I am so sorry if this plot is similar to a work that already exists.
> 
> I feeling super inspired by MPL right now, but I am in my final year of uni so I will do my best with regular updates! 
> 
> Also, I don’t have anyone to read this over before I post so any constructive criticism/feedback on my writing is appreciated! English is one of three languages I speak, so I mess up grammar and flow sometimes! 
> 
> Cheers, and enjoy!

Chapter 1.--The Prologue 

“We met like what? A month, maybe two months ago? What do you actually know about me, Tora? And not something that you had Gyu dig up on me in his spare time, I mean, what do you actually know about me?” Poppy shouted, her voice bouncing off the walls of her tiny apartment. 

Tora's eyes widened at her accusation, knowing his mouth was settling into an even deeper frown than it had been since dinner. 

Poppy was searching for a reaction. Anything to show her that he would respond. Letting a few awkward seconds pass before she going to continue. With each passing second, her window of opportunity was closing. This was going to hurt him, she knew that, but she didn’t know what else to do. She had to get him to leave, to be pissed off enough at her so he would not check up on her in a few days. Giving her just enough time for her to get out of Narin and keep him safe.

“Bobby, what the hell are you going on about? I don’t need Gyu to tell me shit to know—”

“Where did I grow up?” she cut him off, folding her arms across her chest.

“What?” he raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What the actual fuck is she going on about? This is coming out of nowhere” he thought, everything was fine a few hours ago. 

“Where did I go to school? What did I study? Do you know anything about me past my cute little facade?” She squeezed her arms harder around herself, not because she was angry, but because she knew that she would be shaking like crazy and he would notice something was off. 

“What the actual fuck is she going on about?” He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, lighting it before blowing smoke off into the night. Ok sure, the last few weeks had not been the greatest, tensions were running high all over the city but still, why is she yelling at him? Her mouth was set in a firm line, but her eyes were on the verge of tears. 

“Are you going to cut the crap and actually tell me what’s going on Poppy, or are you going to keep shouting bullshit at me?” his eyes narrowed, his gaze drilling into her from across the room.

“Ok shoot, the guilt trip isn’t going to work,” she thought, fidgeting with the seam of her shirt. Taking a deep breath she continued, “I wouldn’t be in danger if it wasn’t for you! If it wasn’t for you and your little thugs none of these things would be happening!” she wasn’t looking at him anymore, tears were welling behind her big brown eyes and she knew that if she started crying he wouldn’t leave. 

Stubbing out his cigarette on the sun-shaped ashtray Poppy had bought for him he replied, “everything the boys, Quincey, and I have been doing has been to protect you”. He said it with a harsher tone that he wanted, he strode inside, closing the balcony door behind him. “Listen Pops,” he began as he reached to lift her chin to force her to look at him, “I know you’re scared bu—” but she had smacked his hand away from her face. 

“NO YOU LISTEN!” she shouted. “These past few weeks have been utter hell Tora, you cannot just flash a smile, kiss me, and tell me everything is going to be ok when it clearly isn’t” her breath becoming more ragged as she tried to rile him up, “every second I spend with you the more people get hurt, the more I get hurt Tora!”.

He knew this would happen eventually, hell even in the beginning of their relationship he went out of his way to push her away to get her to stay the fuck out of his life. He remained stoic, he didn’t want to give away his dark thoughts swirling in his mind to Poppy. “But I guess I should have known better when I saw that little target plastered on your neck, you’re not some bad boy like I pretended to think to spare your fragile feelings!”. 

Poppy could see his biceps tensing up as she continued, “but you’re nothing more than a fucking criminal Tora, a thug”. And that was it. “Come on now, take the bait,” she thought desperately to herself.

“You know what Poppylan, FUCK THIS!” anger and hurt brewing in his eyes. Uncrossing his arms he strode past her to the door. Slipping his shoes back on he ripped open the door, “I thought you were different, but you’re just more of the same shit”. He walked out and slammed the door so hard Poppy was sure her landlady would call with a noise complaint again. A few seconds later she heard his sports car rumble to life and speed down the street. 

Poppy stood unmoving in the middle of her living room. Feeling completely empty, yet her feet unable to move. She wasn’t even crying, just the overwhelming weight of what she had said to him was still processing in her head. “He is never going to forgive me for this”, kept replaying in her mind over and over like a broken record. The sound of her phone snapped her back into reality. Reaching into her pocket and flipped up the screen, the harsh light stinging her eyes. 

<< Tick tock, tick tock little flower you don’t got much time left >>

Locking her screen she glanced towards her unicorn stationary haphazardly strewn across her desk. Absentmindedly she walked over and sat down, picking up a sparkly pink gel pen in the process. “What do you say to people that you don’t want to say goodbye to?” she thought as one terrible outcome after the other from tonight’s little game flashed across the back of her eyes. 

Looking up at the pictures that cluttered the wall behind her desk, she swallowed the growing lump in her throat. 

“How the hell did this even happen?” she said aloud, letting the tears that she had been holding in to slowly trickle down her cheeks. As she fiddled with Tora’s silver ring in between her fingers, her phone buzzed once again sending a shiver through her body.

<< How much longer are you going to hide in your apartment little flower? I don’t like waiting >>

P: << I just need a few more minutes to wrap up here, then I will be out>>

<< Not my problem, you have ‘till sunrise to get here little flower >>

Sighing, Poppy checked the time. “Ok I still have 8 hours,” she thought, shoving the growing dread and sadness she was feeling down to deal with later. Her mind was trailing all over the place, making mental to-do lists as she shuffled around her apartment. Dropping her prepared backpack by her door she turned to fill up her watering can. Going around her apartment taking care of each of her plants she stopped before touching the balcony door. “Is there even a point to doing this if I’m not going to come back” tears welling behind her eyes. She couldn’t risk tripping the motion sensor she knew Tora had locked on her balcony door so she backed away, dropping the half-empty watering when she bumped into the coffee table. Cursing herself for the mess she’d made in such a time crunch, “you’re so clumsy Poppy, why did yo—"

Her train of thought was interrupted yet again by the shrill of her phone. 

<< or else. >>


	2. Before the Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poppy and Tora have been dancing around the relationship question and they both know why, but their friends simply cannot stay out of their business. Plus with the weather on their side, what could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who commented on my first chapter, you guys are all so sweet and supportive <3\. This is the average of how long each of my chapters will be, please let me know if that is too long or too short! It will help me with my plot planning haha! Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you all think! 
> 
> Cheers! 🥰

**Chapter 2--Before the Fall**

***A few weeks before the events of CH. 1***

“OK. That is it, I can’t take another day in the office with you two.” Quincy said while closing the passenger door of his newest sports car.

“Don’t know what ya talking about Quincess”

“Oh shut up. You’re hardly as subtle as you think you are _Tiger_. Another week of this weird, avoiding, flirty crap and I’m going to lose it. Hell, you’re losing it! Can you two just bloody admit to fucking each other on the side or like that you take her on a cheesy little date or whatever the hell you two do in your relationship!” 

“There’s no relationship to speak of, we’re just friends” Tora replied flatly.

“Oh fuck off, _‘just friends’_ my ass!”

“It will be your ass in the pavement if you don’t shut your mouth.”

  
 _“Pffft, meanie_ ” Quincy thought while rolling his eyes.

Quincy tapped his fountain pen to his lips, carefully eying Tora as he sped through the east end. “Will ya quit grilling me?” Tora said angrily, eyes glued to the road ahead. “I just don’t get it. You like her, it’s obvious she likes you too. Why the hell haven’t you pounced on this splendid opportunity?” Quincy asked, already pulling out his phone to text his new partner in crime.

Tora slammed on the breaks, sending Quincy’s phone and pen and half his soul into the dashboard. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR TORA?” Before Quincy could rub away the burn from the seatbelt Tora grabbed his shirt collar, nearly pulling Quincy out of his seat.

“Why the _fuck_ do you think, Quinceton?”

Tora was terrifying normally, but to Quincy he just saw the sad eyes of his big, bad older (adopted) brother looking back at him.

“Will you not beat the shit out of me for one day Tora? ONE?” Quincy pleaded. Tora released his grip, letting Quincy fall back into the passenger seat. “And I am not stupid. Yes, the clan is a problem BUT you’ve never had less of a reason to worry!” Tora scoffed at the brazen statement, lighting a cigarette as Quincy rambled on. “I’m serious! She’s under my direct protection. She’s one of my people Tora, that alone is enough to keep her safe from everyone in the clan—”

“Even your dad Quincess?”

Quincy fell silent, letting more smoke accumulate in the car. “Fuckin’ exactly. I don’t give a shit about anyone else, I could take them easy. Vincent? Not a chance. He would have her before I even fuckin’ knew she was gone.”

Tora let out a sad, empty laugh. “You know what the sickest part about all of this is?”

“DO I want to know?” Quincy asked warily.

“I don’t even care. I would be hers in a heartbeat if she let me.”

“WAIT, so you mean to tell me that this little editor of mine has the Tiger of Ares Street on the chase? THAT’S RICH!”

_“This was going to be too easy,”_ he thought. His thumbs flying across his cellphone, his partner-in-crime answering quicker than he can think. Tora parked in front of Quincy’s building and stubbed out his cigarette after getting out of the car. He began to empty the trunk of Quincy’s latest shopping trip when the blond slammed down the trunk, narrowly missing Tora’s fingers.

“What gives Quincy? I ain’t going to elaborate more on this, I—”

“Oh shush sweetie, you’re going to go get someone for me!” Quincy’s smile grew wider by the second, “will ya wipe that shit-eating grin off your face? And will you and Erdene stop fuckin’ meddling in my business!” Tora yelled while pointing at Quincy’s cell.

“OH please, I’m doing you and her a favour. It’s going to rain in about 30 minutes, the sun will set in less than that, and I know a little someone who went out of her way to save approximately $5 on rice and cookies at the expense of her damn safety.” Quincy wiggled his phone up to Tora’s face, showing his text thread with Erdene. Tora’s eyes narrowed. “ _Not Ares Street, but not much better,”_ he thought angrily in his head.

He pulled up Poppy’s contact, letting three rings go by before she answered.

“Tora?” He could hear the overplayed pop song and chatter of the supermarket in the background.

“Stay put, I’m coming to get you.”

“What? Why Tora, I can take the bus—”

***click***

Turning on his heel Tora went back into his car, pulling away from the curb. Usually, Quincy would be pissed at his friend’s rudeness, but all he had was a sly smile plastered on his face as he walked into his apartment building. “ _Go get her Tiger_ ” he laughed to himself.

\--------------------------------------------

Raindrops peppered the windshield as Tora raced across town. The supermarket wasn’t in a super rough part of town, but the kind of neighbourhood where mother’s made sure to hold their kid's hands extra tight and their purses even tighter.

The light drizzle had picked up to a steady pace when he pulled into the parking lot, his eyes scanning for his feisty but broke girl. He couldn’t see her from the blurry windshield, but her phone was going straight to voicemail. _“Where is that hamster?”_ he thought as he killed the engine. Sighing he pulled himself out of the car and walked into the supermarket. He ignored the worried looks he got as he trailed up and down the aisles, but still no luck.

Fed up he left the store, checking his GPS again. Jogging back to his car, he hopped in and sped off towards her apartment. The rain had picked up into a downpour, making it hard to see. Trying her phone again, it went straight to voicemail. “Did she even have an umbrella?” he said aloud in the car. Hitting the call button again a familiar voice answered back, “Big Bro? Is everything good?”

“Gyu, did you see Poppy tonight?”

“Naw, she hasn’t come back from work. Figured she was chillin’ with you and Quincy again tonight.”

“Ok, let me know if she gets back before I get to the apartment.”

***click***

He rounded the corner and there she was. Dragging a soaking buggy up the first of two hills towards her apartment. Heavy-looking plastic bags digging into her forearms, a bright pink tote bag squished between one of her arms and a sad-looking French baguette.

Tora pulled up swiftly beside her, causing her to jump. She whipped her head around to stare right at him through his tinted windows.

Rolling down the window, he called out “you just couldn’t wait, could you?”

“I was fine! I was going to take the bus and—”

  
  
“Bus huh? Damn, must have missed the part where your cute ass can transform into a Narin city bus alongside your other magical abilities.”

With a frustrated sigh, she turned on her heels to continue towards her building. “Oh would you cut it out Poppy. I was just kidding,” he swung open his door to catch up to her, “get in the car.”

“No. You’re being mean” she said with an overexaggerated huff.

“I could just kidnap you right here and shove ya in there”

  
  
“Oh, you wouldn’t dare” shooting daggers with her eyes up towards him.

He bent down, hooking his arm under one of her legs causing her to yelp.

“Fine, fine, fine! Put me down you thug!” she said laughing. He let his hand linger on her hip while she readjusted her multiple grocery bags. A smirk broke across his face, he could listen to her laugh forever. Tora noticed how the rain had soaked her to the bone causing her sundress to cling to her skin. Strands of her beautiful brown hair had snaked their way around her neck and a few more unruly pieces of hair trailed down the front of her dress.

She felt his eyes trail up and down her body, leaving a trail of heat everywhere they looked. A familiar scene from Quincy’s new book played in her mind making her stomach clench. Clearing her throat, she side-stepped around him, walking back towards the car. _“Thank god he can’t read your thoughts Poppylan.”_

Tora’s hand still burning from where it had just sat. “You coming? Or are you trying to drench yourself too?” she called out. Joining her, he picked up a few bags to place in the trunk. Usually, he would just grab the bags and chuck them in the back seat for her, but he was feeling selfish and enjoyed watching her rearrange the backseat. Her soaked red sundress hugging her every curve instead of hiding them like it was earlier today in the office.

“Like what you see Tiger?”

_“Damn it, caught again,”_ he thought. She laughed, hopping into the passenger seat. They took off towards the apartment.

“If I make you rice balls again, does that make up for the gas and soaked seat?”

Tora made sure to keep his eyes forwards, not trying to be caught looking at her again. “Sure thing Booby” but he couldn’t help it. Glancing out of the corner of his eye he saw how her breasts stretched the wet fabric as she desperately tried to pile her soaked hair into a bun. His black jeans suddenly feeling a touch too tight. _“Get it together man, you’re not a fucking teenager”_ Tora chastised himself, not noticing how red Poppy’s cheeks getting.

\-----------------------------

By the time the elevator had reached her floor, a small puddle had formed underneath her feet. Little patters of water joining it as she searched her tote bag for her keys.

“I’m going to need to dry off and change. Do you think you wait a few extra minutes longer for dinner?”

“Want me to, I don’t know like, start cutting vegetables up or somethin’?” He asked

She threw a curious, doubtful look in his direction before disappearing into her apartment. “Right, right got the hint Bobby,” he dropped the bags in the kitchen, “I can put stuff away tho, if that helps...?” Tora crouched down, inspecting all the various things she’s bought. Noticing the extra package of beef and a bottle of strawberry juice.

She strode into the kitchen behind him, placing her small hand on his bicep. Leaning down over his shoulder she pressed a gentle kiss on his cheek, “thank you, that would be amazing” she mused before leaving to go change out of her clothes. Frozen for a moment he glanced back towards where she had disappeared to, hearing the bathroom door close before the shower turned on. He reached up to touch the spot where she had kissed him, his smile growing so wide that his dimples had peaked out. _“This woman is going to be the death of me,”_ he thought happily to himself.

With the groceries put away and the table set for them, Tora had stepped out onto the balcony to have another smoke. This is what he loved most about being with Poppy. The peace. The quiet and calm.

He loved watching her just move around her apartment, she looked so happy. Soft pop and other sweet tunes drifting through the room, her thick hips swaying to the beat while she worked effortlessly to make yet another amazing meal. She stacked up plates and bowls along her arms, trying to balance everything yet again.

“Would ya just let me help ya?” he said from the doorway of the kitchen.

“It's ok! It's ok, I got it!” she said, struggling to grab the strawberry juice from the counter.

Stepping into the kitchen he reached for the bowl of sautéed veggies and grabbed cups for the juice. “Ya know Poppy, you don’t gotta do it all on your own all the time.” She looked down and walked out of the kitchen. “Shit Bobby,” he followed her out to the living room “I didn’t mean to make ya un—”

“You’re right, ” she said with a sigh, “but I’m used to doing things on my own. It’s different when you always have people around I guess. I’m not used to it yet,” she said with a shrug.

_“Yet”_ Tora repeated in his head. “Go put those down, I’ll go grab the last of it!”

Her phone started buzzing. At first, he ignored it, but her phone’s shrill kept cutting into the peace he was just starting to enjoy for the evening. “Yo Pops, ya phone is goin’ off. Want me to bring it to ya?” walking over to where it had been charging.

“No that’s ok, who’s calling? It might be Erdene, I know she’s working late tonight” she replied from the kitchen.

Tora flipped her phone over and noticed the series of text this person had been sending her all day. “Uh, someone named Julri? Seems urgent” he called out to her, but she didn’t respond.

“Pops?” grabbing her phone he walked back to the kitchen, he noticed she was shaking. “Poppylan,” he had bodyguard mode on “hey, what’s wrong? Who is this dude?”

Pushing her hair back behind her ears, she looked up at him. Tears brimming in her big brown eyes. “J-Julri is my ex. The jerkwad has been blowing up my phone the last week. I’ve just been ignoring him, but it is just so suffocating.” Tora pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her. He could feel her hot tears seep through his black t-shirt. He hated when she cried, there wasn’t much he could do. _“Too bad you can’t shoot sadness...right?”_ he thought.

Pulling away from her, he lifted her chin to get her to look at his face. He wiped away a tear that was trailing down her plump cheek, “Want me to kick his ass for ya sweetheart?”

“Pfffft, no Tora, you’d probably kill him. Julri is weak as heck” she laughed, wiping her eyes with the hem of her t-shirt. _“Ha, probably”_ he thought to himself, a smile forming as he made a mental note to ask Gyu to do a background check on this asshole.

“Is there anything else I can do then sweetheart?” he said, brushing her hair away from her eyes. Poppy blushed and looked away from his eyes, “Pops?” he prodded.

“Can you stay with me tonight? I know that doesn’t seem fair or—" He bent down to kiss her, cutting off whatever bull she was going to spew out. “Of course Poppylan” he replied while catching his breath. Worried that he had overstepped he begun to release her from his grasp, but she reached back up to drape her arms around his neck, pulling him down to deepen the kiss. He pushed her back up against the countertop, moving his arms out of a hug and instead placed his large hands on her hips. She stood up on her toes, pressing her chest into his and lightly bit his lip. “Shit Bobby, shouldda had dinner if you were so hungry” his dimples appearing once again.

“Oh put those obscene things away Tora,” she poked his cheek “but you’re right, it’s going to get cold.” Mentally kicking himself from cutting the kissing short he followed his feisty hamster back to the dinner. _“This is going to be one long fuckin’ night huh?”_ he said to himself.

“Tora, come on! I made extra!” she called to him. Tora looked back at her phone sitting on the counter, noticing yet another message had come through. He didn’t want to invade her privacy, so he settled on just shutting down her phone completely.

\-------------------------------------------

Julri stared back at his phone.

“Damn, left on read again eh Julri?” His friends were being such dicks about their latest breakup. “Naw, she’s probably just busy like she said last time. She’s a big-time editor or some shit now” he huffed, turning his phone over in his hand. One of his friends put down the video game controller and turned to him “Why are you so fucking stressed? It’s POPPY were talking about here,” throwing his friend a supporting look, “she always takes your sorry ass back! HA!” The room erupted in laughter, but they had a point.

“It’s Poppy, she will always take you back. Just like she has before, just like she will now. She still needs you. She still wants you, she’s just playing hard to get” he said to himself over and over in his head. “Yo guys,” Julri started as he got up from the gross armchair of his friend’s mom’s basement, “I’m gonna bounce. I gotta be up early tomorrow for work.”

On his way to his car he pulled out his phone again, pulling up the GPS and train ticket apps he had saved when she let him visit when she first moved to the city.

“I’m coming Poppy, don’t you worry. Everything’s going to go back to how it’s supposed to be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: I wrote this chapter after writing a part of my thesis, drinking a vodka cranberry while my roommates made me a chocolate mug cake. It was rom-com night so I figured before the angst train leaves the station, Tora and Pops should have a few cute moments of their own. To those who may have seen my previous comments on other fics, I had to get a covid test after being exposed to a positive case. I was very anxious, but the test came back negative! This is everyone's reminder to stay safe, stay healthy, and wear your masks!
> 
> No song recommendation this time, but I love hearing everyone's favorite tunes. Let me know what song gives you the most Poppy and Tora ~vibes~


	3. Wonder and Whiskey Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the Tiger’s away, Poppy will play. Well, if Erdene gets her way that is!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I am being honest, I wasn’t super happy with how Ch. 2 turned out. It took me a while to figure this one out even with my plot tree. I know I am prone to being overly critical of myself, but I just want to make sure each chapter that I publish is something I love. So I may go and re-write the previous chapter. None of the plot points would change, just word choice and pacing. 
> 
> Thank you to the wonderful CopyPastel for the shoutout on her amazing fic “Staggering Forward”. I posted my fan art of her character Kori in the MPL Facebook group (non-fastpass) but you can also find it on her Instagram @JustCopyPastel 
> 
> As always, all characters in this fic belong to the wonderful LilyDusk and her webtoon: Midnight Poppy Land
> 
> Let me know what you all think of this update! 
> 
> Cheers!

**Chapter 3.1:** **Wonder and Whiskey (part 1)**

Ever since their shared birthday party, Poppy did her best to not cave on the boundaries she had set; and Tora had respected them. But this was yet another morning where she’s woken up with Tora’s arm wrapped around her waist, holding her close against him. She could feel his soft exhales from his nose rustle her hair, tickling her ear slightly.

Stifling a giggle she carefully turned over in the bed, giving her an unobstructed view of the handsome thug she lets sleep in her bed time to time. She loved the way the early morning sunlight danced across his skin, she could just spend the whole day looking at him. Craning her neck over his shoulder she tried to look at her alarm clock. She didn’t understand why he insisted on sleeping on that side of the bed, something about being closer to the door, but it often left her squished against him and the wall. Admittedly, despite the difficulty of getting out of bed to get ready, she did like the way it made her feel safe.

As quietly as she could, Poppy lifted his heavy arm off her hip and stepped over the sleeping giant lying sound asleep in her bed. She replaced her with one of her stuffed animals which Tora subconsciously pulled towards him in his sleep. Poppy snuck out of the bedroom to get her day started.

The shrill of the alarm clock made Tora jolt out of bed, knocking a few stuffed animals to the ground. He whipped his head around, throwing a death glare towards Poppy’s pink alarm clock with the intent on smashing it into a million pieces; but stopped short. Rubbing his hands across his face he pulled his long, dark hair up into a half-bun. He could smell breakfast cooking and hear soft pop music play from just beyond the bedroom door. Getting up he stretched, his fingers brushing the top of the ceiling. He found his black jeans and t-shirt and pulled them on, wishing he brought an extra pair of clothes with him. “ _Should I ask to leave a small bag of stuff here? Just like in her closet or somethin’? ”_ he wondered, quickly shoving such a domestic idea to the back of his head.

Walking to the kitchen he stopped to lean against the doorframe, watching Poppy move masterfully around the kitchen. “Mornin’ sweetheart,” he chimed making her jump slightly. “Good morning to you too sleepy head! How’d you sleep?” she asked as just began to lift all the plates to the table. “Like a rock,” he almost always slept peacefully when she was next to him, “but your demon pink alarm clock scared the shit outta me.” Bubbly laughter erupted from her mouth, “you’re the only thug in the world who would be scared of an alarm clock!”

When she first started to make breakfast for the both of them he would be appalled by the sheer amount of sugar the tiny woman would consume before 9 am, but he slowly started to enjoy the small dollops of sweet whipped cream she would put on his pancakes. He noticed that she piled more eggs and fruits on her plate than she used to. He let his mind wonder has their peaceful morning continued thinking to himself, _“what on earth did I do to deserve this and the angel of a woman in front of me?”_ Little did he know, Poppy often wondered the same thing about him.

***

Tora stood motionless in the corner of her living room, his large fingers aggressively tapping away at his latest cell phone. Poppy eyed him cautiously, noticing that with each buzz of his phone his face contorted into an angrier and angrier shape. She put the dishtowel down and walked over towards him, her small hand wrapping itself gently over his wrist. She reached up to put another hand along the base of his jaw, forcing him to look up from his phone. “You’re getting mad again Tora,” she said quietly. His features softened slightly, her unyielding concern and soft skin against his always made him lose focus. He began to lower his phone before it began to ring, the sound echoing through her apartment.

“Sorry Bobby, I gotta take this. Go finish getting ready, I’ll drive ya to work today.” Tora placed a soft kiss on the top of her head before heading out to the balcony, pulling a pack of smokes out of his back pocket while he listened intently to whatever the person was saying on the other line.

She gave Tora one more look over before disappearing into her washroom. She threw her PJ’s onto the floor and turned the shower to the hottest setting, letting steam fill up her washroom. She let the hot water rush over her skin, letting the heat wash away her concern for the brooding man on her balcony. She usually wasn’t worried about he did, but his dismissive reaction to her made her wonder just what was causing him pain this time around. “Doesn’t help that he never talks to me about anything,” she put her head back letting the hot water hit her throat, “it’s so bloody frustrating!”

Turning the shower off she continued with her normal routine, noticing that Tora was still talking to whoever called him on the balcony. He had already smoked three cigarettes that definitely littered the parking lot below. _“Well since he’s not quitting anytime soon, I’ll have to get an ashtray before my landlady yells at Tora again,”_ she thought while scrolling through an online shopping app.

She heard the balcony door click open and closed. Poppy leaned up against the wall, her work bags placed around her feet. “Shit are you already ready Bobby?” he asked, not looking at her; still consumed with his cell phone. “I need to go grab my suit from my car, get changed, and then we can g—” he looked up at Poppy, momentarily stunned by how good she looked in her business wear. She had a white blouse on and a fitted light pink pencil skirt on, simple white pumps dangled on the edges of her fingertips as her arms were crossed but relaxed against her chest. Her hair expertly piled on top of her head, a few unruly pieces falling out to frame her face. He noticed his ring was on the silver chain she was wearing. _“My god why is she always so stunning,”_ he thought to himself.

“You were saying Tora?” she said as the corners of her mouth twitched up into a small smile. Clearing his throat Tora continued, “after I go get my suit and change we can head off to work, kay?”

“Sure thing, gives me time to make some more food. Someone looks hungry,” she said as she walked towards the kitchen. Meeting her halfway, Tora stopped to pull her chubby cheek gently “that would be perfect Bobby.”

***

Tora pulled in front of Giant Goldfish, killing the engine while Poppy hastily collected all her bags and papers. Before she could run out of his car, Tora quickly locked the doors. Throwing him a curious look, she opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she looked past Tora and saw Gyu’s van parked across the street. She looked back into Tora’s eye’s for an explanation as to why his boys were here.

Putting her bags back on the floor of the car, she crossed her arms across her chest she let out a slightly aggravated breath. “I’m assuming this has something to do with the phone call this morning?” she asked, pointing behind his head.

“Listen Bobby, I’m going to be gone for about a week. Maybe more, maybe less. Having Brian and the other guys here is just a precaution,” his tone was hiding the mild torment he was feeling inside. He didn’t what was worse. The fact that he was getting more heavily involved in clan affairs with each passing week that the notebook wasn’t found; or the fact that he would be leaving Poppy behind in the city without his direct protection.

“I’m assuming you’re not going on a quick holiday?”

He laughed, what Vincent had described to him over the phone this morning was the furthest thing from a fucking vacation that he could imagine. “No Poppy, I’m not. It’s work. I gotta go when duty calls,” he said with a shrug.

“I thought being Quincy’s bodyguard was your job Tora. Last I checked, he isn’t leaving the city until Christmas,” she replied somewhat sarcastically. She wasn’t stupid. She knew there was more to Tora’s job with the clan than being his younger brother’s bodyguard. But she already knew the answer that was coming.

“Sorry sweetheart, you know I ain’t gonna elaborate on the specifics. Just know I’ll be gone for a week, the boys are here to protect ya until I get back, and I’ll have my phone on me so you—”

“Why would I need protection Tora?” Her voice cut through the car. Her tone sharp, but her eyes began to fill with worry. Tora cursed himself for using that word. If she was dating a normal guy this conversation wouldn’t even need to happen, they’d be talking about train ticket information and what time they would call each other after work and other mundane crap like that. Gyu’s words from last weekend ringing painfully true in his ears right now.

*** _ **Last weekend** _***

They had been talking at his guard booth after Tora dropped off Poppy, Tora going on about new security measures he wanted Gyu to install after the laundry room’s token machine was broken into. “I want new cameras on the back entrances of the building and—” Gyu had laughed, shaking his head while writing down Tora’s request. “Somethin’ funny there Ronzo?” his tone sending chills down Gyu’s spine. “Not at all Big Bro, it’s just that y’all aren’t even dating and the lengths you’re going to makes it sounds like you’re married,” Tora relaxed against the wall going into deep thoughts that got more and more confusing as the second wore on. Gyu snapped his fingers, “Hey Big Bro don’t go spiraling on me again. Listen I get it, if I were you I’d probably be doing the same fuckin’ thing. But since I’m not you and I can see a bit more clearly than your paranoid ass right now, why are you doing all of this?” Tora exhaled and sat down in the extra chair in the booth, “Because _I am_ paranoid Ronzo,” Tora’s foot shook his foot as his anxieties continued to bubble over.

“Paranoid about people hurting her or paranoid that she’s gonna beat your ass once she finds out you have her whole place kitted out more than the capital buildings downtown?” Gyu had laughed, but Tora continued to shake his foot. “Oh,” Gyu eyed his temperamental friend before continuing, “You still haven’t told her, have you Big Bro?” Tora pinched the bridge of his nose, his head starting to hurt from the weight of the various important conversations he hasn’t had the courage to have with Poppy yet. About how fucked up his life actually was. About how fucked up he was. That even her wildest guesses couldn’t accurately describe the horrors of his line of work. Pulling his chair towards Tora, Gyu took a deep breath and placed his hand on Tora’s shoulder. “Listen I can’t tell ya what will happen when you tell her, but I can say that she deserves to know before ya ask her to be with ya once she’s ready,” Gyu reassured him.

But he wasn’t ready to tell her that yet. Hell, he didn’t think she’d ever be ready to hear any variation of his explanation on just how much she could get hurt just by being seen with him. Let alone being in an actual relationship with him. 

***** _Present Day_ *****

“Shit Bobby, I didn’t mean to scare ya or anything. It’s just something I asked of them for my peace of mind. Plus it’s good for their training,” he said with a light tone, hoping that would be enough of an excuse for her.

“Tora, I do not need protection. I am able to defend myself no problem,” she said raising her small fists into a boxing stance, lightly punching his shoulder with a wink.

_“Yeah, that’s part of the problem ya feisty hamster,”_ he thought to himself. Grabbing her wrists, he pulled them up to his lips to place a soft kiss across her knuckles. “Will you promise to just listen to me on this? It will give me peace of mind knowing that you’ll at least try to listen to Pinky or Brian or Gyu if ya had to,” he said while staring directly into her eyes.

Her heart rate increased, bringing a weak flush of pink across her cheeks. His gaze was always so intense. “You’re not playing fair Tora,” she said. He raised an eyebrow, “didn’t know we were playing a game Bobby.” She pulled her hands back and began to pick up her bags again, feeling Tora’s golden eyes continuing to stare directly into her. “Can you at least tell me where you’re going?” she pleaded. She did deserve to know, he knew that. She deserved to know why he wanted her to be protected around the clock, why it pained him to leave her alone in the city without him there. _“She deserves better than a paranoid thug for a boyfriend_ ,” he thought to himself. He couldn’t lie so he settled on the next best thing.

“I’ll be out of Narin City, but not out of the country,” he said flatly.

“Tora,” she began. “No Poppy, that’s all I’m going to say ok? Is that good enough?” he said firmly.

“For now,” she replied, mimicking his tone.

Tora continued to stare at Poppy, his eyes locked onto her face. His mind racing over different responses, but Poppy beat him to it. “Well, if that’s everything Tora,” she placed a hand on the door, “I have to go to work now.”

Tora unlocked the doors and Poppy stepped out, letting the cool early autumn air rush into the car. She struggled with the various bags she brought into work today, which elicited a sigh from Tora. He got out of his car and stepped up beside her to take two of the bags out of her hands. They walked in silence towards the main elevator of the office building, the tension from their conversation in the car following them inside.

Poppy stepped into the elevator and Tora placed her extra bags beside her feet, “Not coming up?” He punched in the code for Giant Goldfishes’ floor, “ ’fraid not sweetheart, you’re not the only one who’s going to be late to work.” Tora backed out of the elevator, but before the doors could fully close Poppy stuck out her hand and grabbed onto the collar of his shirt. She pulled him down by the collar of his shirt and placed a quick kiss along his cheekbone before whispering “stay safe Tora,” into his ear. She let his shirt go and quickly backed into the elevator. Tora’s eyes had gone wide; he never got tired of her random acts of boldness. “Now who’s not playing fair Bobby?” he asked with a smirk slowly creeping across his face. “Still you, Tiger.”

The elevator door dinged and slowly closed, Tora drinking the last sight of Poppy he would have for the next several days. He stood there for a moment, looking at his reflection in the polished silver surface. “I swear that woman is going to be the end of me,” he thought again. Fixing his collar he turned back towards the entrance. He didn’t need to give Gyu or Brain any excuse to plaster shit-eating smiles on their faces when he would go over Poppy’s protection detail while he was away because of a crinkled collar.

***

As the week wore on Poppy settled into the odd routine that for some reason she needed to have. Every time she had tried to ask questions, Tora’s boys just distracted her or told her the closest thing to the truth that they could.

Tora would text her in the morning and evening, but other than that kept suspiciously quiet. A part of her worried considering his weird sudden change in behaviour, but maybe that’s what it was like for people like him. Before Poppy could stew in her uncertainty, Quincy burst through the office doors trailed by Damien. He had replaced Tora this week as Quincy’s bodyguard as per his highnesses' request, but Poppy knew it was most likely because Quincy enjoyed watching him squirm around Erdene.

Quincy had only come in for a quick meeting ahead of a few other appointments he had, but he noticed how distracted Poppy was. “Missing someone tall, dark, and handsome over there miss editor?” a sly smile spreading wide across his face. “I have _ZERO_ clue as to what you’re talking about Mr. Noyouko,” she said sarcastically as she desperately tried to hide her blushing cheeks. “Mhmmmm, whatever you say Poppy dearest,” he replied as he watched her sarcastic smile fade into a more worrisome look that he has grown to recognize. Rolling towards the door in his chair he closed the boardroom door and turned back towards her, “Poppy he is literally fine can you please stop worrying before you give ME wrinkles?”

“He’s always just so vague with me. I have no idea where he is or what he is up to or if he is safe. It’s kinda driving me mental because of how long it's been,” a weak laugh leaving her mouth as she began to clean up the manuscript sheets off the table. Grabbing her hands, Quincy pulled her towards him, “Listen Poppylan, as a friend I am begging you to just relax. It’s his job, he has to work! Just like you and me!”

“Uh-huh, just like you and me eh?” she eyed her friend and client, hoping he would buckle under the pressure of her glare. Instead, Quincy dropped her hands in her lap and stood up, casting a shadow over. He bent down and placed his hand above her head along the back wall of the board room which sent shivers up Poppy’s spine. “Poppylan, I’m going to tell you this once and one time only ok? Do not ask such stupid questions that you _do not_ want the answer to m’kay?” he said in an unfamiliar tone. It was moments like these that she remembered just who Quincy was. Erotica novelist by day, son of the most powerful mafia boss in the city by night.

Poppy only nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat as he took his hand off the back wall. Clearing his throat, he returned his voice to its usual octave, “Wanna have dinner with me and Cordy tomorrow night Pops?” he asked. She groaned internally, tired of all the emotional whiplash the clan made her go through but answered “sure thing Quincy, but you’re paying, or else I’m telling Tora you scared me.” He laughed, “oh of course darling, it’s my treat as always! Cordy will pick you up at 8 pm sharp from your place m‘kay?”

Walking out of the board room, Quincy and Poppy saw Damien leaning over top of Erdene’s drafting table. The two of them were loving all this extra time they got to spend with each other this week. “Ah-hem, Mr. Bodyguard we need to leave now if we’re going to meet our next appointment,” Quincy said, an even bigger smile plastered on his face than the one he had moments ago. Straightening up, Damien awkwardly rushed to go do his duties while Quincy simply shook his head. Erdene mouthed “thank you” to him across the room and Quincy bent down slightly towards Poppy, “she owes me big time for this, but I’ll admit all of you are just so funny to watch.” Quincy strode to the front door of the office, “Ciao ladies, see you tomorrow!” 

When they were alone, Erdene rushed over to Poppy grabbed her arm, and dragged her to the washroom. Once safely inside away from the prying eyes and ears of Jacob, Erdene began gushing about Damien or Pinky as he called himself. “Oh Pops, I have NO idea how you can put up with it,” she sighed. “What on earth are you talking about Dene?” genuinely confused at her friend’s statement. “How can you stand to do any work when your stallion of a man is striding around the office, eye-fucking you from across the room every day?” she said while fixing her makeup.

“DENE!” Poppy yelled while suppressing a fit of laughs, “he does not eye-eff me from across the room! He is working and we just chat because we are FRIENDS Dene!”

“Oh friends my ASS, Poppylan!” Erdene said sarcastically, “friends don’t do what you two do every second of the day. Do you see me lustfully looking at Jacob from across by cubical? Pffft in his fuckin’ dreams maybe, but the dude barely holds the door for me let alone would get a horde of his closest guy friends to take care of me while out of town!” Poppy played with the hem of her shirt, looking at the floor like she was a toddler again. “Pops listen, jokes aside it’s clear that you like him, no? Hell, I’m willing to bet if I called him right now saying you needed a kidney he’d give his or find one for you!” They burst out in laughter again.

“Oh Dene, I do like him. I do,” Poppy sighed while cleaning up her slightly smeared mascara.

“Sooooooooooo, what’s the issue then?”

Poppy shrugged but knew Dene would want a better explanation. “Would you settle for me not being ready after having my feelings royally hurt by my scumbag ex-boyfriend and,” Poppy paused for a moment, not sure how much she wanted to tell Erdene about her not-so-law-abiding boyfriend?

  
“and because there is still so much I don’t know about him Dene.”

“Shit Pops, do you need a whole background check on the guy before ya date him? Has he not slept over at your place or rescued you from subway stations late at night? Did he not spend weeks helping you track down Mr. Lam and Quincy?”

Erdene eyed her friend, watching her body language shift and change. “There’s something else isn’t there Pops?” Poppy snapped her head up, meeting Erdene’s prying eyes. Letting out a deep breath Erdene continued, “I’m sure you have your reasons and you don’t have to tell me, at least not yet, but babes please don’t toss this away because you are scared ok? I have literally never seen you this happy.”

Erdene wrapped her arms around her tiny friend and let out another big breath, “Phew ok, enough with the heavy. There are what like four hours left in the workday and it’s a Friday. SO..”

“Erdene, NO”

An evil smile crept across her friend's face, “T.G.I.F BABY! Drinks are on me tonight and you’re not running out on me this time sis!”  
  


***

It was nearly 1 am when Poppy and Erdene left the bar. A new place had opened up close to Erdene’s apartment and she did not want to miss out on lady's night. “Erdene should we call a cab?” Poppy called out to her friend as she dug through her purse to find her phone. “Pffffft no! I only live a few blocks away, hell I can’t even feel the cold so let's walk!”

Before Poppy could stop her, Erdene began walking briskly away from the bar. Her long legs making it even harder than usual for Poppy to catch up with her. “Dene slow down! You know I’m short as heck!” Poppy was carrying her friend’s purse and coat since Dene insisted she didn’t need them when she left the bar. Poppy caught up to her finally nearly a block away from the bar.

Neither of them noticed that two men who had emerged from an alleyway a few storefronts back had begun to follow them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being way too long for one update so I will be posting both parts tonight! I hope you guys enjoyed it! 
> 
> The song that I played on repeat for this chapter: Friend’s Don’t by Maddie & Tae


	4. Wonder and Whiskey Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erdene and Poppy show them what they're made of!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ⚠️TW: violence towards women and descriptions of violence in general ⚠️
> 
> I did put tags in the original post of this fic, but I always want to make sure any readers know ahead of any chapter that gets particularly graphic.
> 
> Spoilers, it does end on a sweet note so have no fear haha!

**Ch. 3.2: Wonder and Whiskey (part 2)**

“Jesus Erdene, how many whisky sours did you even have?”  
  
“Oh pfft not THAT much Pops, you worry too much!”

“Thank god that at least one of us is kinda with it,” Poppy muttered to herself. She felt Dene’s phone buzz in her purse, “Dene you’re knight in drugstore hair dye is calling!”

“Don’t be mean!” she said, sticking her tongue out at Poppy. “Hey, babyyyyy~ *hiccup* are you hooooome?” Earlier in the evening Erdene had convinced the boys to let them have a girl's night and to get Poppy away from the watchful eyes of Tora’s boys so they could have fun without their mood-busting behaviour. As a result, Pinky had been calling her every hour to check up on them.

Poppy just rolled her eyes and pulled Erdene’s arms through her coat while she had her friend sitting on the doorstep of a store. Out of the corner of her eye, Poppy noticed movement, whipping her head around to scout her surroundings but didn’t see anything. Being a woman naturally made Poppy extra careful at night, but with Tora’s weird behaviour this weekend she was being extra cautious.

Erdene continued to talk to Damien, going on about some absurd sexual stuff that Poppy would have loved to tease Erdene about but she was focusing on where she saw the movement originally. Scanning the street she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but something didn’t feel right. She knew something was wrong. She pulled her phone of her pocket, _“Dammit, it's dead of course,”_ she was kicking herself mentally for not charging it more earlier. And then she saw them, two men moving towards them.

Poppy hoisted Erdene up off the steps and before she could curse her out Poppy leaned up to her ear to quietly tell her they were being followed. Erdene looked over her shoulder at the two men who were carefully staying out of the street lights that lined the avenue. “Pops what do we do?” she didn’t sound scared, more like asking for a battle plan. “There’s two of them and two of us, we have a taser and I can punch hard.” Erdene shrugged, “Oh boy it’s been a minute since I was painfully reminded that we are women,” she grabbed her keys out of her bag, placing them in between her fingers. Throwing Poppy a confident look she continued, “just like how your dad taught us to remember?”

The sudden influx of adrenalin and anxiety ruined whatever buzz their fun evening at the bar gave them. Poppy didn’t like fighting, she never wanted to hurt anyone, but this was different. They began walking as quickly as they could towards a busier, more well-lit street.

Looking back over her shoulder, she noticed that the men had disappeared which did nothing to relieve her of her anxious state. Poppy grabbed the phone out of Erdene’s hands to whisper to Damien who was still on the line. “Hey Pinky, I think we are being followed. I can’t see who they are, but it's two guys. About your size, I think”

“Stay put I’ll track Dene’s phone to you guys, and--”

“No, we’re going to keep walking north towards her apartment, follow Main Street south until you find us ok?”

“Pops! Wait, don’t--”

**_*click*_ **

The two men must have gone around through another alleyway to cut through the maze of buildings in this area because when Poppy and Erdene turned the corner, they came face to face with a masked man and a gun pointed directly at Poppy’s forehead.

“Drop the phone sweetheart, and I won’t blow your brains out.” Poppy felt like she was going to be sick, but she let go of the phone. It hit the pavement, cracking the phone screen.

“Pops? POPS! Hello? Shit!” And then the line went dead.

Another man in a matching black ski mask appeared behind them, “And don’t think about running either little girls.” Erdene slowly released Poppy’s arm, keeping her hand with her keys hidden insider her coat sleeve.

“What do you guys want? Money? Drugs? She’s broke as shit, but I have money in my purse and on the inside of my coat pocket. I have weed in my inside pocket as well. Take it and we won’t cause a problem,” Erdene said in a calm, but firm voice. The dry, boisterous laugh erupted from the man pointing a gun a Poppy.

Lowering the gun, he sighed “oh sweethearts we don’t want your fucking money,” he reached out to touch Erdene’s face making her recoil in disgust. “Don’t fucking touch me,” she spat. Poppy felt the other man come up from behind her and could feel his breath on her ears when he whispered “just come with us without a fuss and we promise not to hurt ya too badly.”

Throwing a look at Erdene they let the men lead them back towards the alleyway. The men grabbed them hard, making Erdene whimper as they walked back towards the dimly lit street. As they turned to go down an alleyway, Poppy stopped in her tracks and whipped her head around the barrel of the gun gleaming back at her. “Tsk tsk tsk, I wouldn’t try that sweetheart,” he cooed. She took a deep breath and reached for the gun with her open hand, hitting the side of the handgun with her palm. He pulled the trigger, the loud sound echoing off the walls of the alleyway. The bullet had missed her but had grazed Erdene’s upper arm causing her to cry out in pain.

Before Poppy could react one of the men had kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying backward towards a brick wall. He had reloaded the gun, pointing back at Poppy. “No fucking funny business bitch, we’re on a tight fucking schedule,” he said through his teeth.

“ARGUHH” the other attacker cried out from behind Poppy. Erdene had taken the moment of confusion to hit him with her hand full of keys. Poppy was winded from getting thrown, but her attacker was too busy looking at his partner for him to notice her pulling out her taser for him to react quick enough. She jabbed it right into his thigh, sending searing pain through his body. As he stumbled, she stood up and punched him hard in the face causing him to fall backward onto the pavement. Poppy stomped on his wrist, kicking away the gun under a nearby dumpster.

Poppy turned to Erdene who was in a chokehold by her attacker, tears streaming down her face. Poppy rushed over to her, taser pointed to strike his neck. She noticed his eyes lock onto her as she approached. Letting go of Erdene he punched her in the jaw, knocking her out. She hit the pavement with a sickening thud. Poppy blinked away tears that were welling in her eyes, Erdene was still breathing so she couldn’t lose focus just yet.

Poppy lunged towards him with the taser but missed. He grabbed her wrist, twisting it until the pain caused her to drop the taser onto the ground. Before he could grab her other hand Poppy swung at him, her tiny fist connecting with his nose. She felt his bone crunch underneath her knuckles, making her slightly nauseous. He staggered back, grasping his nose while cursing her out.

“You’ll pay for that you fucking bitch!” he yelled. Poppy got in a proper fighting stance, repeatedly dodging his tired attacks. With a kick to his stomach, she got him to lower his arms as he tried to stop himself from falling. Poppy took the opportunity to punch him square in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. Although both men were slumped on the ground, she knew it wouldn’t be long before either of them came to their senses.

Running back towards Erdene, she bent down to scoop up her unconscious friend. Tears spilled over her eyes as she struggled to lift her off the ground. With a final push, Poppy got Erdene to her feet and begun walking quickly back towards the street. “ _Fuck I hope someone heard that gunshot, please let them call the police,”_ she begged as she continued to struggle to carry Erdene.

Poppy made it to Main Street, but it was completely deserted. Poppy knew that both Quincy and Erdene lived in the same district, so all she had to do was get to one of their buildings. Although she had given them about two blocks worth of distance, she didn’t want to yell for help in case she alerted their attackers to their location.

“P-p-oppy?” Erdene croaked, coughing up a little blood from where she had bit her tongue.

“OMG ERDENE! Can you hear me?”

She laughed, “Yeah Pops I can hear you, you’re yelling into my hear babes”

Erdene was able to carry more of her own weight but still leaned on Poppy as they continued to walk. “Fuck me, how did that go so badly,” she groaned.

“We haven’t fought since high school Dene, we are just rusty.”

“Rusty _almost_ got us killed Pops,” Erdene said dryly.

A yellow Lamborghini had drifted around the corner, stopping directly beside them on the road. Quincy jumped out of the car, walking around to lift Erdene off Poppy’s shoulders. He placed her in the back seat and turned to collect Poppy, bending down to carry her.

“I can walk Quincy don’t worry,” she said, throwing him a weak smile. She opened the passenger door and sliding inside. Quincy jumped in and peeled away from the curb.

“Thank you Quincy,” Poppy said meekly. Quincy simply nodded, knuckles going white as he gripped the steering wheel.

***

With two bloody, passed out women in his car, Quincy had decided to take the girls back to his condo instead of the hospital. The clan doctor already waiting for them when they entered the building.

He had paced around his apartment for what felt like an eternity before seeing the doctor reappear from his guest bedroom.

“How bad are they?”

“Oh they will be fine,” the doctor said confidently. “The tall one got the worst of it, lost a good amount of blood, but no one needed stitches,” the doctor continued, unaware of how queasy Quincy was getting as he thought about all the blood.

“They are some tough ladies I’ll give them that,” he said with a chuckle. “Thank you for your help doctor, I’ll send you the money later tomorrow evening,” Quincy shook his hand and led him out of the condo.

He rushed back to the guest room and swung open the door, “Are my babies ok?” he asked dramatically.

“SHHHHHHH! She’s trying to sleep Quincy,” Poppy hushed, pointing towards Erdene lying in the bed. Picking up her stuff she shuffled towards him and shooed him out the room. “Are you going to tell me what happened Poppy or am I just supposed to sit here in panic and worry?”

“Quince, I am very tired and sore and bloody. Can this wait until after I have a shower?” she pleaded. “Of course, of course! Please go, the bathroom is on the left. I’ll bring you a pair of Cordy’s leggings and a t-shirt hmm?”

Poppy threw him a gentle smile and went to hunt down her much-deserved shower. Quincy had been charging their phones since they came back to the condo. Poppy quickly grabbed hers on the way to the bathroom. She gasped when the screen lit up.

**_Missed call_ : Tora (14)**

**_Missed call_ : Pinky (5)**

**_Missed call_ : Grandma (2)**

**_Missed call_ : Quincy (62) **

There were even more text messages loading up as she scrolled through her phone, making her groan with frustration. Before she could answer Tora her phone began to buzz.

****

**_Incoming call:_** **Tora**

“Hello?”

“Poppy?!” he yelled into the phone, causing her to pull the device away from her ear.

“Yeah, yeah it’s me Tora. I’m sorry I missed all your calls, my phone died and—”  
  


“Where are you?” he demanded.

“I’m at Quincy’s. Listen, Tora, there was an accident and—”

“What. Happened?”

She could hear his teeth grinding through the phone, his anger making her more tired than anything else.

With a sigh, she continued, “Erdene and I went out for drinks, girls night, and all that. Around 1 we left and started walking back to her apartment. Two guys followed us and jumped us. We fought back and Erdene got hurt pretty bad—”

***click***

“Tora? Hello, are you there?” she let a few seconds go by before checking her signal. She tried calling him back, but it went straight to voicemail. Feeling overwhelmed and tired from the evening's antics she gave up trying to call him back and simply plugged her phone back in to charge. She gingerly removed her dirty tank top and mini skirt, taking care to not ruin any of the bandages the doctor just put on. She stepped into Quincy’s luxurious shower, cranked the handle to the hottest setting, and let the water wash away the evening.

***

Tora burst through the doors of Quincy’s condo, nearly taking them off their hinges in the process. Storming through the living room until he found Quincy, Brian, Gyu, and Damien sitting around the kitchen island. They all looked terrified, bracing themselves for whatever the unhinged man was going to dish out.

Tora grabbed Damien’s shirt, hoisting him off the barstool before punching him square in the ribs, knocking the wind clear out of his chest. Damien fell to the ground with a thud, gasping for air.

“You mother fuckers had one job, _ONE_!” Tora roared. He grabbed Brian by the throat and threw him against the wall, breaking his nose. Blood had spattered onto the wall and floor, but before he could land another blow on him Quincy stepped in. “Ok, I think that is enough Tora,” Quincy said nervously. Tora shot Quincy a look that made him wish he hadn’t opened his mouth at all.

“The only reason why I’m not beating the ever-loving shit out of any of you is that I need to know why _the FUCK_ POPPYLAN WAS HURT WHEN I HAD ALL OF YOU BASTARDS ON HER ASS?!”

“Will you keep it down, the both of them are still here. They will hear you and SEE you beat the crap out of their friends so get it the hell together Tora,” Quincy said in a hushed tone.

Grabbing Quincy by his sweater Tora pulled him in close, “I don’t give a fuck. My girl was attacked tonight. She was hurt! She could have died Quincy!”

A high pitched scream snapped the two of them out of their squabble. Tora spun around to see Erdene rushing over to Damien’s side. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” she said venomously towards Tora. “Babe it’s ok, I—”

“NO THE FUCK IT IS NOT OK!” she yelled. Erdene stood up to get into Tora’s face for punching her man but began to sway back and forth. Damien stood up to keep her from falling over again and Tora got a view of the injuries she sustained. Bandages, bruises, broken nails, and light scrapes all around her legs. Tora’s blood pressure increased as he continued to imagine more and more horrific scenarios of tonight in his head.

Damien left to go put her down in the guest bedroom again, almost too scared to leave her. His fear of Tora’s wrath won that internal battle easily enough.

Once back out in the kitchen, Tora punched Damien again in the shoulder causing him to cry out in pain. “Pinky what the fuck happened? And where’s the rest of you fuckers, I’m going to beat you all to shit for fucking this simple ass mission up!”

Gyu finally pipped up, “Big Bro they are ok though, put up a damn good fight too from what I could tell from the conversation we had before you came.”

“DO YOU EVEN HEAR YOURSELF RONZO? THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE HAD TO FIGHT AT ALL!” Tora yelled again.

“All I am saying Big Bro is that they are ok and that is what is important right now. We can worry about other shit later, but for now, we keep—” Tora had grabbed Gyu the shoulder and tossed him to the floor with the rest of the boys.

“For every scratch I see on Poppy’s skin, I’ll give you stupid shits ten” The boys gulped, training was already hard without a pissed off Tora as their drill sergeant.

“Yes officer, thank you,” everyone in the room turned towards Poppy, eyes going wide as they realized who she was talking to. “No, no that won’t be necessary. We simply wanted to make a report so we can rest easy knowing the area will be safer for other women. Ok, thank you, officer. Yes, yes, you as well. Goodnight.”

Poppy crossed her arms tightly across her chest, throwing looks at the squabbling boys in front of her. “Are you all done beating the shit out of one another? Or do I have to clock yet another person’s jaw tonight?” Silence permeated the condo as Poppy continued to stare them all down.

“Why on _earth_ did you call the police Poppy?” Quincy whined. “Oh that’s easy enough Quincy, you boys were spending more time fighting among one another instead of helping. So yet again,” she walked over to Quincy to stab his chest with her fingernail, “I freaken had to deal with it,” she said sarcastically. 

“This could be clan related Poppy, we don’t know what is going on or why you guys were attacked tonight—”

“I got a real simple answer for you meatheads, _we are women_.”

“Poppylan, what ar—”  
  
“Don’t interrupt me, Quincy, I am not done!” she said harshly. “You idiots think this is the first time something like this has happened to me? To Erdene? To any of our friends? You think I carry around a pink taser because of YOU guys?” she let out a forced laugh to emphasize her point further.

The only one looking at her was Tora, eyes scanning her body for each injury he could see. With an exasperated sigh, Poppy turned to grab a cup of water. “Those guys were two asshats out to get whatever they could. They didn’t want our money, but they made it clear as to what they were really after—,” she stopped noticing the torment she was putting Tora and Damien through.

“Anyways, it’s not important anymore. The police know to go look for two masked guys with light skin and green and brown eyes. The area will be safer overall and in a few week’s I’m sure Erdene will drag us all back there for some amazing whisky sours ok?”

Poppy relaxed her shoulders, letting her arms drop to her sides. Tora walked over to her, desperately wanting to touch her but terrified to hurt her more than she already was. “Pinky, go get Erdene. Give her water and the extra strong aspirins the doctor left her. Take her stupid butt home and keep her there until Monday.” Poppy sounded even more annoyed and tired than before.

“Of course Miss. Poppy,” Damien replied. He quickly got to his feet, thankful to have an excuse to get out of the kitchen and away from Tora’s fists. “Brian, Gyu? We were attacked two blocks southwest of Main Street in some alleyway. I dropped Dene’s phone. Did pinky say something about tracking the phone? I don’t know how to do that, but I’m sure Dene will want it back. Can you go get it?” The boys nodded and hurried to their feet.

“OI! If you find the fuckers who hurt them, bring them to the gym ‘ight?” Tora said over his shoulder, watching his so-called men scurry out the condo. Quincy grabbed extra glasses of water and made himself scarce before Tora could crinkle another one of his cashmere sweaters.

Once alone, Poppy walked over to Tora. He half expected her to chew him out as she did to the rest of his boys, but she simply plopped her forehead onto his chest. He wrapped his arms timidly around her, his heart pounding in his chest.

“You know I’m not going to break in half if you give me a hug right?”

He pulled her closer, burying his head into her hair. He couldn’t think straight, his mind too clouded by anger, confusion, and defeat. Her presence did nothing to calm him down, his anxieties multiplying as the minutes drew on. “ _How fucking close was I to losing her to fucking street rats?”_ he thought angrily to himself.

“Tora?” her voice vibrated into his shirt. Releasing his grip on her, she bent her neck up to look at him. “Tora, can you take me home please?”

Tora hesitated. They still didn’t know who the guys were if this was targeted or not if someone would be watching her apartment. Too many unanswered questions swirled behind his golden eyes, his concentration breaking when Poppy reached up to touch his cheek.

“Hey,” she said softly, “I am safe and in one piece ok? Please let’s just go home.”

_Home_.

His heart skipped a beat when she mentioned that. He grabbed her hand that rested on his cheek, turning it over to see her bloodied knuckles and chipped nail polish. Her palms rough from hitting the ground. Poppy pulled her hands back, trying to cover the damages. “Go grab your things Bobby, I’ll drive ya back,” he said under his breath.

***

The drive over had been too quiet, but once Tora completed a sweep of the apartment complex and her apartment she was finally able to get out of his car.

Once inside her apartment, Poppy disappeared into her bedroom to change out of Cordy’s too-big clothes into her comfy avocado themed PJs. She moved to the washroom to find her first aid kit to replace her bandages.

Tora was smoking on her balcony, mind still running ragged. Between the week of unchecked violence Vincent had him perform for the clan and rushing back to the city once he got the call from Qunicy that Poppy had been hurt; he was running on fumes.

He stopped before flicking the cigarette off the balcony; noticing the sun-shaped ashtray that sat among her plants now. _“Too fuckin’ cute Bobby,”_ he thought as he carefully placed the bud in the tray; not wanting to dirty the bright yellow paint for as long as possible.

Poppy entered the living room with a comically large first aid kit, setting it down on the table with a thud. She began rummaging through it, looking for alcohol swabs and ointment to soothe her cuts. Not wanting to feel inadequate for a second time tonight, Tora came inside to help her.

He got on his knees in front of her, spinning the kit away from her meddling fingers, and began to catalog all the things she had in this massive red bag. “Tora it’s ok, I got it,” she said triumphantly holding a small square between her fingers. Grabbing it from her, Tora took her hand to begin dressing her wounds.

“Tora it's ok I got it, really, it isn’t that bad—”  
  
“Will you quit it Bobby,” he said harshly.

“Why are you mad at me Tora?”  
  
“I ain’t fuckin’ mad at ya’ Bobby”

“Huh, could have fooled me”

His head was down, he couldn’t look her in the eyes. He was too disappointed in himself and with each bandage, he put on her hand, his disappointment only grew.

“I’m angry at myself Poppy. I am so sorry that this happened, I sho—”

  
  
Poppy placed her hands over his mouth, “Don’t you dare! None of this is your fault Tora! How could you even think that?” she said with tears welling in the corners of her eyes.

Taking her hands off his face Tora looked straight up at her, at the angel who didn’t blame him for her run-in with death this evening. “I am the ‘legendary’ Tiger of Ares Street, I should be able to protect my five-foot nothin’ girl, but I failed! And you got hurt because of it!”

“These things happen every day, Tora! Erdene and I were just unlucky and there are so many other women who are too. So please stop, just stop blaming yourself for the actions of other people,” she said with tears escaping her eyes. She slid off the couch to join him on the floor, gingerly placing her legs around his waist. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest letting him rest his head on her shoulder.

“You’re too good Poppy, this shouldn’t have happened. I’m so sorry” he said into her hair.

“Tora, bad things happen to good people every day. I’ve learned to live with that, so please for the last time, stop apologizing for this.”

Tora pulled her closer to him, moving her hair away from her neck. “You know I would do anything to keep you safe Poppylan,” he whispered into her ear, goosebumps peppering every inch of her skin. 

She placed a kiss on top of his neck tattoo, “I know Tora, but why?”

He sighed, he wasn’t in the mood to spew his heart out while still reeling from the past six hours. “Because Poppy, that’s what friends do.”

  
  
“Friends don’t change work plans for each other last minute or straddle one another in the living room,” she laughed. He was too wrapped up in concern to fully think about what she had been saying. Lifting his head from her shoulder he took a few moments to drink in the sight of her just casually sitting with her legs around him, green booty shorts on with a matching avocado tank top on.

Her legs barely touched the ground, instead, she awkwardly hooked them behind him so that she was sitting with her bum on the cold floor. He put his hand under bum and pulled her up onto his lap, bringing her face to face with him. Her cheeks reddled deeply, clearing her throat she asked again “but why Tora?”

He let out a low chuckle, shaking his head against her forehead. “Because Poppy, I-I can’t leave you alone, believe me, _I’ve tried_. You’re too fuckin’ important to me now.”

He wanted to tell her right then and there how much he cared for her, the lengths he would go to keep her protected from the fucked up world that he lived in. The world that she was going to be dragged into if they were together. “ _If she would even stay with your ass after you tell her that you stupid fuck,”_ he said to himself.

“Then don’t,” she said. Tora jerked up, looking into her eyes for any confirmation as to what she just said.

“Bobby, what did ya say?”

“Then don’t leave me alone Tora,” she said as she slid her hands up from his waist to his neck, interlocking her fingers in his hair. Her words were just as intoxicating as she was, making Tora’s head spin at the thought that he would be able to keep this tiny, feisty woman in his life.

“Ok, Bobby we are going to continue this conversation later,” he breathed, his chest tightening at the storm of emotions he endured in such a short time.

“Agreed, later for sure. But for now, Tora?”

“Yeah, Bobby?”

“Kiss me,” her voice sounding urgent. “please,” she quickly added.

Tora grabbed her chin, pulling her lips up to his. Poppy’s heart pounded inside her chest as he closed the gap between them. She parted her lips, inviting Tora to explore her mouth with his which made her whole body radiate with excitement. Pulling away to take short gasps of air, Tora opened his eyes to make sure she was still there in his arms. It was moments like this where he wondered if she was even real.

He pulled her back in, snaking one of his hands through her hair and the other grabbed her hip. The feel of his large frame pressing against her never ceased to amaze her, _“How could a person feel this good? It’s like a drug”_ she thought to herself. Her thoughts were silenced when he claimed her mouth again, both of them getting lost in one another. She took his lower lip into her mouth and bit softly, eliciting a low moan from Tora. Poppy pressed her palms on his chest, bringing them slowly down the length of his torso. She played with the bottom of his shirt, her fingers itching to glide under the fabric to feel his skin.

Tora grabbed her wrists and pulled away from her lips. “Bobby?” he asked breathlessly.

“Sorry, sorry I know I was getting carried away,” she laughed, hiding her face. Throwing her hands back around his neck she put her head down on his chest. Tora pulled her close again and rested his chin on her head, kissing the top of her hair while he gently stroked her back.

_“If I wasn’t already on my way down, I’m defiantly going to go to Hell for making this angel fall in love with me”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the continuation of chapter 3. I hope you guys liked the longer update, but in the future, I think I am just going to break up some of the plot points I've written to not have such massive chunks haha! Hope you all enjoyed Poppy being the badass that I know is hidden under all that candy and cute clothes! 
> 
> I don't have a song for this chapter, but if anyone has any song recommendations I am always all ears. I procrastinate my school work by making playlists for every occasion, it's a real problem!
> 
> Cheers!


	5. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Restless sleep and a weekend trip, will the gang finally get some rest?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry everyone for being M.I.A! School started to pick up and honestly I should be doing my lab and bibliography that is due tomorrow, but instead I decided to write. I’m making wise choices as usual 😅. This is my longest update yet so, I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Since it’s been a few weeks since I’ve updated, I thought I would do a little TLDR for the previous chapters! Ok, so up until this point:
> 
> Quincey and Erdene meddled to get Tora to go collect Poppy from the grocery store. Although their evening turned out to be pretty sweet, Julri had been texting Poppy nonstop, leaving her annoyed and on edge. The following morning Tora drives Poppy to work where she notices Gyu’s van parked across the street. Tora lets her know that he will be out of town on a work order from Vincent, leaving her in the protection of his boys. Although she’s confused about why she would need them to babysit her, Poppy doesn’t press any more questions. At the end of the week, Poppy and Erdene go out for drinks. While on their way back home from the bar they are attacked by two masked men. Poppy and Erdene may have been roughed up, but they didn’t give up. Ultimately they kicked their attacker's asses and were picked up by Quincey who took them back to his condo to get looked at by the clan doctor. Tora comes back early from the clan mission after hearing Poppy was attacked, chewing out his boys in the process of letting something like this happen. Poppy calls the police to report the issue and commands Tora’s boys to take Erdene home. Tora takes Poppy back home where he helps her treat her wounds and they have a bit of a heart-to-heart (take it as a precursor to “the big” convo they seem to have in every fic hehe). This chapter continues later in the evening so I hope you guys enjoy it!
> 
> All characters and settings are owned by the fantastic Lily Dusk! Go read MPL on Webtoon and go support her Patreon!

Poppy rarely remembered her dreams, but her nightmares were always vivid and clear. She had tossed and turned all night long or for however many hours were left by the time she had crawled her tired, bruised body into bed. Images of the past few hours flashing behind her eyelids.

Tora felt helpless as he watched her furrow her brows and pull at her sheets, fighting some internal demon he couldn’t see. He had wanted to go hunt down her attackers and make them pay for the hell they’d put Poppy through. Each terrible scheme he cooked up was worse and less thought-out than the last, the darkest parts of his mind running wild with the ways he would carry out his revenge.

“ _Snap out of it ya sick fuck_ ,” he thought angrily to himself. Tora wanted to hold her in his arms, to offer her some sort of comfort that he could. But even though she had begged him to stay with her that evening, Poppy’s nightmares proved too dangerous—even for him. Every few minutes she would flip over or jerk her body quickly and after the third time she hit him, he decided to just let her have the bed. Tora sat up against her bedroom door, looking at her while tossing his phone over in his palms when the ringer went off. Briefly fumbling the phone before silencing it, he looked back up at Poppy with wide eyes worried he had woken her up with the shrill of the phone. She flipped back over, still deep in her nightmare.

Sighing, Tora flipped up his phone to see Gyu’s missed call and a series of texts he’s been ignoring from his boys and Quincey. It was nearly time for Gyu to check into his shift at the guard booth for Poppy’s apartment, meaning it was officially 24 hours since he’d last slept. He looked back up at Poppy, who was sweating in her sleep and now had kicked off her covers onto the floor. Tora picked himself off the floor, gathering her discarded cover in the process.

He pulled his sleeve down over his palm to dab sweat away from her forehead gently as to not wake her up when he felt his phone buzz once again. Pulling the discarded covers back around Poppy’s body he swiped his thumb lightly back and forth across her temple, watching the nightmare-induced wrinkles relax slightly under his touch. The annoying buzz of his phone once again pulled him back into the present and with an irritated huff of air escaping his mouth he stood up and walked into the hallway, letting the door click shut softly behind him.

“This better be good Ronzo,” he whispered into the phone.

“Still ain’t a mornin’ person eh Big Bro?” Gyu teased.

“Not in the mood Ronzo, either tell me what’s up or hang the fuck up,” Tora spat back.

“Ok, ok geeze. We got some intel on the guys who attacked Poppy and Erdene if you want to see it,” Gyu replied.

Tora’s chest and shoulder muscles tensed again, his anger from earlier quickly returning to his mind. “Why do ya even have to ask? Of course, I want to see that shit Ronzo. Send it to my phone,” his irritated tone making Gyu nervous on the other side of the speaker. “No can do Big Bro, it's police footage that I got from one of the station’s servers. The system is already bouncing from point to point trying to locate me so if I sent it to you it would be a problem.”

Tora let out another frustrated sigh, bringing up his fingers to pinch his nose bridge to attempt to relieve the building stress headache he knew was coming. “Just come down here Bro, I have my stuff set up in the back of my van and we can run the program I’ve been working on to see what comes up and you’re gonna—”

“You know I don’t understand a fuckin’ word of the tech shit you’re talking about Ronzo,” Tora said abruptly. Gyu rolled his eyes, “you want me to bring up half of Silicone Valley to her apartment then?” Tora threw a concerned look towards Poppy’s bedroom door, not wanting to leave the apartment in case she woke up in a panic or needed him in some way. Running the varying outcomes in his head was just making his head hurt more, his hand twitched as he subconsciously glided his fingers over his back pocket to look for cigarettes. 

“Fuck it fine, I’ll come down. Just give me a few minutes,” he responded harshly before ending the call. Tora quietly came back into Poppy’s room to grab his jacket from the floor beside her desk, not letting his eyes leave Poppy’s face as he did so. Quickly shoving his arms through the sleeves he came up beside her to whisper in her ear, “Bobby, I’m goin’ outside for a sec. I’ll back tho so, stay put and sleep.”

Her eyebrow wiggled slightly but didn’t wake up. She wasn’t struggling against her bedsheets like before, but her face still looked like she was thinking too hard. He planted a quick kiss on her forehead before leaving her apartment, grabbing his cigarettes off the kitchen counter as he went. “ _Ronzo better have something fucking good,”_ he thought to himself bitterly.

******

“Seriously Ronzo? This is it?” Tora asked, his annoyance mixing poorly with his exhaustion. “Hey, I’m workin’ as hard as I can, but I gotta keep bouncing between VPN’s and other shit to avoid the security system being brought to our location,” Gyu responded dryly as he took a sip from the energy drink on his makeshift desk in the back of the van. Tora glanced back at his phone screen, _“20 minutes, we’ve been at this back and forth shit for 20 minutes.”_

“There!” Gyu said excitedly. Taking another swig from the brightly coloured can before tossing it onto the floor, he cracked his knuckles and began swiftly moving his fingers across the keyboard. Tora angled his body back towards Gyu, watching the clan’s master hacker quickly flip through his program settings to bring up photos and footage from the night before. Gyu’s lips curled up into a determined smile, as he secured what they were looking for while dodging the police’s cybersecurity systems. Tora looked at his friend intently, studying his behaviour with admiration. Gyu quickly glanced back in Tora’s direction from the corner of his eyes.

“What?” Gyu asked, his smirk still plastered on his face.

“Nothin’ I just never get over how you look when ya do shit like this. It’s kinda freaky.”

Gyu laughed, “all those years in my basement proved useful eh?” He started typing code into random windows that popped up onto the screen once he disconnected from the police servers, running it through the programming he had been working on. “BOOM, there it is Big Bro. Once the programming is done hopefully we can pinpoint more shit about these fuckers.”

A few minutes and one more energy drink later, Gyu had gotten the footage from the fight and a list of potential suspects that matched the attacker build that were seen in the area before the fight. Annoyingly, no one was seen leaving the area except Poppy and Erdene. Tora was fixated on the fight footage, his pulse beginning to raise while he saw the altercation unfold repeatedly as Gyu tried to extract more information to run through his programming. Tora’s fist closed too hard around his phone, making the plastic casing squeak slightly when he saw one of the attackers whip out the handgun aiming it directly at Poppy. Without taking his eyes off the screen Tora hit the replay button. And again, and again.

“Stop it Bro, you’re gonna pop a blood vessel and break my keyboard,” Gyu said under his breath.

“You guys never said anything about a gun Ronzo,” Tora said as he hit replay again.

Gyu gulped, hesitating for a split second before typing in more code into his program. Tora hit replay again. “Ronzo,” Tora repeated in a more assertive tone that made Gyu’s skin shiver. “Well, um,” he began shifting his eyes between Tora’s side profile and his own screen. “To be fair, neither of them mentioned it either. But we had assumed from the gunshot wound on her shoulder,” he continued. Tora snapped his head to look at Gyu, eyes going wide, “I didn’t see a gunshot wound on Poppy’s shoulder.” Gyu looked at him in momentary confusion, “oh shit Tora, not Poppy. Erdene got hit. Just a graze from a bullet according to the doc. Didn’t ya see the group chat? Pinky has been a wreck all night, doubt the fucker slept.”

A small wave of relief swept over him, followed by a tinge of guilt for being thankful that Erdene had gotten hurt instead of Poppy. Running his hand over his face, he sighed and hit another video selection from a store’s backdoor security camera. He watched with sick curiosity as he saw the scene from the previous night unfold. His mouth was dry and his hands trembled as he watched the girls be led down the alleyway, but both him and Gyu let out a gasp when they saw Poppy grab the barrel of the gun with her hand. “Gods, that woman is fucking lucky,” Gyu said while shaking his head. Tora hit the pause button when he noticed that Poppy kicked the gun under the dumpster, “smart hamster,” he said under his breath.

“How do you think they were able to do that Big Bro?”

“Eh, don’t know. Both of em’ got bigger balls than half the guys in the clan,” he replied.

Tora didn’t show it, but he was equally curious as to how they were able to overpower two armed men. “Ha! That’s for sure. Make sure to remind me to hire Poppy instead of you next time I need some muscle,” he said while continuing to type away on the keyboard. Tora smacked Gyu upside the head, “don’t be a dumbass Ronzo!”

Gyu shot Tora an aggravated look while rubbing the side of his head, “ya know, I was in fact, _JOKING_!” A few minutes passed in relative silence excluding the clack of Gyu’s keyboards. Tora’s exhaustion was starting to get the better of him, but he couldn’t rest while Gyu continued to search the cameras. He knew that even the briefest moments of sleep would just result in horrid things from the last week to pollute his dreams and turn them into more nightmares.

An exasperated sigh left Gyu’s lips, “well that’s the best we can do for now. Here is everyone who fits the build and description that Poppy gave us that the program can identify. Want me to text Pinky to get him to go look for the gun?” Tora didn’t respond, just gave him a tired nod.

“I need to go back to Poppy before she wakes up, gotta go pretend like I let this all go like she wants us to,” he said while jumping out of Gyu’s van.

Gyu texted the list of names to Tora and begun to look them up in the underground chatrooms to see if there were any links. “You really do like this shit a little too much huh Ronzo,” Tora asked while looking over Gyu’s shoulder. Leaning back into the chair, Gyu handed a USB to Tora with the video files.

“Eh, we all enjoy what we are good at right?”

“Naw,” Tora huffed, “not all of us.”

******

Poppy’s eye’s snapped open when she was startled by the sound of the shrill of her cell phone. Abruptly sitting up in bed she began to frantically search for her phone to put an end to the incessant beeping, but all she got was handfuls of her sweat-stained bedsheets. As she desperately untangled her limbs from the sheets she heard the tell-tale clack of her new phone against her floor.

“ _Ugh, it better have not cracked,_ ” she thought to herself. Half of her body was hanging off the side of the bed as she blindly grabbed at the floor to reach her phone. Her momentary relief of a perfectly intact cell drained when she saw the list of missed calls and texts, but before she could read anything another call came through.

**_< <Incoming call: Q.B Noyouko>> _ **

****

“Quincey, why are you calling me from your office? It’s Saturday,” she whined into the phone.

“Oh good! You’re awake,” he said a little too loudly into Poppy’s ear.

“Well obviously, what’s up? Did something happen?” she asked while sitting up in her bed, throwing her hand over her eyes to block out the sunshine that had poured into her room. “What? Oh! No, no darling everything is fine. Just wanted to check up on you and all that.” Poppy grumbled and looked at her phone screen to check the time, “Quincey it’s not even 8:00 am, can this not wait until later? We are not morning people.” She was half tempted to just hang up on him, his overbearing nature just proving too much for her patience this morning. 

“Oh ssssh, it’s practically 8:00 am and—” he stopped.

“We?” he asked. Poppy could practically hear his lips curl into a sly smile.

“Oh stop it, I meant me and my stuffed animals relax,” her annoyance growing by the minute. Although, she peaked through her fingers and noticed the lack of the brooding thug she expected to be beside her. “Any of those stuffed animals shaped like a tiger?” Quincey teased, while Poppy’s cheeks grew pinker by the second.

“Would you stop! Quincey, I am serious, why are you calling me? And don’t you go bugging Erdene either! We are hungover and tired and sore, and she’s probably still hyped up on pain killers,” her voice was becoming more strained by the second as she continued to put up with Quincey’s antics. “I figured you would want a nice day away from the office and—" she let him ramble on about something to do with plans for the weekend, pressing the speaker button to let her listen to him while she rubbed her sore temples.

“So what do you say Poppylan? You down for that?” She sighed again and seriously began questioning Quincey’s social skills. With another over-exaggerated huff into her phone’s speaker, she answered, “if I say yes will you agree to not pester me until tomorrow? We—I, need to sleep off yesterday.” She could hear Quincey’s chuckles through her speaker, “Of course Ms. Editor. Just make sure that your stuffed animal of choice comes with you, it’s always more fun when he’s around too.”

“Roger that boss,” she said before quickly hanging up. She felt bad being curt with Quincey or any of her friends, but she was not a morning person. Especially after the past 12 hours, she lived through. She attempted to go back to bed, but between the noises of the world waking up and the slight acidic smell of her bedsheets she couldn’t fall back asleep. Tired and still feeling grimy from last night, she decided to pull herself out of bed and take a shower.

The moment her feet touched the cold floor she felt the soreness of her muscles radiate through her body, making her wince and grab onto nearby furniture for support. “Shoot! I knew it was going to hurt but damn,” she said while gripping the nightstand tighter, silently wishing that Tora was in the room with her. Swallowing her pride she looked around the room and noticed his overnight bag was still neatly placed on her desk chair, but his coat was missing.

“Tora? Are you still here?” she called out into the void of her apartment.

No answer.

With a deep breath, she straightened her back and let the soreness continue to send shoots of pain throughout her body as she made her way to the washroom. She absentmindedly swept one hand around to feel for the light switch, the other hand gripping the edge of her ceramic sink. The light stung her eyes slightly, but once she blinked her vision came back into focus and she let out a small gasp when she saw herself illuminated by the fluorescent bulb. Deep, dark circles hung under her eyes with the whites of her eyes peppered with so many small red veins that it stained her eyes a light pink colour. Her eyes trailed across her body and noticed the small bruises that dotted her shoulders and upper arms. She lifted her shirt over her head and took note of the shoe-sized bruise that made an ugly blotch across her stomach.

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them away before they could fall. Taking a deep breath, she stood straight again and cranked the shower to the hottest setting it could go. She let the room fill with thick clouds of steam while rifling around in the cabinets, setting down a few sheet masks and her nail kit on the counter before gingerly stepping under the streams of hot water.

She vaguely remembered hearing her front door open and close again, but decided to ignore it in favour of scrubbing her skin so hard to remove the traces those men had left on her. “ _Don’t cry,”_ she thought to herself as she deliberately shoved down each of the memories from last night into the deepest parts of her brain with each teary blink.

_“Don’t you dare cry_ ,” she repeated to herself.

******

“Fuckin’ hell Quince,” Tora muttered under his breath while he dragged them to yet another booth at the market. There were more stalls open than usual, the fragrant smells of fresh produce and comfort foods filling the air doing almost nothing to soothe Tora’s annoyed mood. He was tired, hungry, and of course, he could feel the dozens of judgmental eyes staring at him and his threatening demeanor.

“Oh, would you shush it already,” the blonde chastised. Quincey was fully engrossed in hunting for the perfect thing to waste money on, this time landing on a set of unique teas from around Asia. “I know she is loving this so at least act like you are too, for her?” he pleaded while handing over the cash for the overpriced tea collection. “I mean, come on! Just look at her!” he said, pointing his hand full of bags towards Poppy and Cordy.

That was the one saving grace he could agree on with Quincey. Poppy was absolutely loving this morning out, even if her skin still showed signs of bruising. They had spent the previous day lounging around her apartment lazily moving from room to room while the hours slipped by. And as much as he wanted to grab Poppy by the wrist and drag her back to her cozy home, Tora knew that she had been wanting to come here since she first moved to Narin City months ago. He watched her slowly move booth to booth with Cordy as she took in all this market had to offer. Her bright smile plastered on her face as she pointed towards another menu, Cordy laughing along with whatever terrible pun Poppy had probably made.

There were dozens of these open-air markets in Narin City, but this one was famous for its local delicacies and multi-generational owned stalls. There were humble stands that simply sold vegetables or meat and other stands like the one Quincey had visited that carried a variety of intriguing products. Spanning an entire city block and part of public gardens, the market was huge and full of locals and tourists alike. Usually, large crowds like this would set Tora on edge, especially with Poppy out in the open like this with him. However, between his watchful gaze and Cordy’s annoyingly possessive hold on Poppy’s arm, he knew he could relax and focus on the real task at hand: stopping Quincey from running off on a whim and doing something stupid. 

“Ugh, I am getting so hungry,” Cordy whined. “Hey Blondie, can we stop to eat, or you going to stop at every booth and let your poor friends starve?” she asks as Quincey passed by her to look at a candle-making booth. “Oh! If you can hold out sugarplum there’s this amazing ramen place on the other side of the east corner of the market! Like 10 more minutes or so,” Quincey said while holding a candle up to her nose. “Mhmm, smells great,” she cooed into his ear. “But I am starving so let’s get a move on.” Cordy plucked the candle out of his hand, replaced it with her hand, and begun dragging him through the crowd towards the infamous ramen. Quincey’s copious bags catching on nearby shoppers. Tora chuckled and shook his head. He never really understood why Quincey picked Cordy, but then again, none of his friends understood why he was so enamored with Poppy either.

Tilting his head towards where she was standing, he looked at her while she debated between two of the candles, ultimately putting them both down. “Didn’t like what ya see Bobby?” he asked, shuffling the bags he was holding to one hand. “No, they are all pretty great, but I’ll probably come back later. I don’t really need them and they are kind of expensive anyway,” she shrugged while counting out the remaining money she had left in her coin purse. “And besides, I want some of that ramen Quincey was talking about. It sounded amazing,” she said smiling up at him. “Shit Bobby,” he said with a slight eye-roll, “I was gonna get us food anyway so why don’t you go get the candle you wanted.”

“No, no, it’s ok!” she said quickly, already turning away from the booth in the direction that the couple had disappeared into. “Hey!” Tora called out after her, weaving through the dense crowd to catch up with her. “Bobby would ya slow down,” his hand grabbing hers to pull her gently towards him. “What are ya running for?” a slight laugh sitting on his lips as he watched her fidget against his grip on her hand.

She rolled her feet forward and back while trying to hide from his inquisitive eyes, her cheeks burning hot with embarrassment as she listened to his near-silent giggles. “Come on Tora, we’re never going to catch up to Quincey and Cordy,” her head still down as she began to try to pull him forwards. “Ehy, we got time. I’m sure they won’t miss us too much if ya wanted to do some more shopping Booby,” he said while refusing to budge his feet. “Like I said it’s too expensive, I can’t get both and the ramen and groceries,” her free hand twirling sluggishly in the air as she listed off all the things that she still needed to buy. “And I said,” Tora pulled on her hand a bit more firmly in order for her to look at him, “that I am getting lunch. Hell, if ya really want anything, I can get it sweetheart. Just name it.”

Tora expected Poppy to argue back with him, but ultimately settle on agreeing with him like she normally did when he picked up food for the two of them from Alice’s. However, he was confused when he saw her brown eyes move from embarrassment to anxiety and back to indifference within the span of a few seconds. It may have only been for a fraction of a second, but he could feel her body react to his words in a way he didn’t fully understand. “Bobby?” the concern in his voice rang through her body, bringing her out of her head and back into reality.

“I don’t want you to get me anything Tora, it’s ok really. I am a big girl and I can pay for myself,” her voice flat and slightly defensive. _Pft. Pft. Pft._ Tora’s little giggles escaped his lips, “Oh, Bobby. I know ya are and I know ya can. Never doubted it.” She started walking again, yanking her hand free from his, “Ok, so drop it then,” she snapped. Nearby people threw their curious and judgemental looks towards their pair, but their eyes lingered on Tora as she walked further and further away from him. After catching up to her in a few short strides, Tora didn’t reach for her hand again. The silence between them growing more and more awkward by the second.

The crowd thinned as they walked along the edge of the market and public park, the afternoon sun dripping between the leaves of the trees that lined the walkways casting everything in beautiful, warm light. Tora began to survey the new area, mentally cataloging all the people there when he felt Poppy’s small hand reach for his again. “I’m sorry,” she said with her head still looking forward, her bottom lip being nervously chewed at. “For being all snappy, that wasn’t called for so I am sorry,” her hand becoming tighter in his. “Shit, Bobby, ya got nothin’ to apologize for. I was pressin’ ya and I shoulda stopped,” he shrugged while he gently squeezed her hand back.

“Can I ask why?”

With a sigh, Poppy responded, “I never want you to feel like you have to do anything for me or like, that I owe you something.”

Tora abruptly stopped, tugging Poppy back a step along with him. “Bobby what kinda crap is that—”

“It’s not _crap_ Tora, I just don’t want to be indebted to you more than I already am. I don’t want you to feel like you have to do anything for me.” Tora noticed the same flicker of worry pass briefly through her eyes as before.

_“Shit, is she talking about all my talk about price and shit from before?,”_ his memories of a few months ago on the rooftop of Poppy’s building replaying in his mind. Guilt and worry starting to strain his mind. “Poppy, I—” he tried to organize his thoughts before speaking, not really noticing his phone buzz in his pocket.

“Poppy,” he placed the bags down on the ground and brought his other hand to cup her face, lifting it so that her eyes could meet his. “You never _owe_ me anything. I _want_ to do those things for you. Always have.” His thumb lightly brushed her upper cheek as he searched her eyes for a response. “Hell, I’d buy as many plants that you can shove into your apartment if you’d let me. I would do anything you ask Poppy because I want to do nice things for you.”

“Why?”

“Why?” he repeated, wondering if she had even heard him just then. “What’s that phrase that’s on your desk thing at work? ‘You’re worth it babe’ or something cutesy like that?” his hand moving slightly on her cheek as she giggled. “Yeah, something like that,” she answered.

“I’m serious Poppy, you are worth it. Whatever it is, you’re worth it to me,” he said as sincerely as he could muster. Desperately trying to get her to listen to his words. “I’m not really good with words and I have to skip town sometimes leavin’ ya all alone so buying you a ramen or a plant or some other cutesy thing you like makes me feel like you know I care.”

“I know you care Tora,” her cheeks turning slightly pink at his sudden display of emotion. “Then what is it then? Your pride? Like what your annoying friend says ‘we don’t need no man’ or somethin’” Tora replied. Poppy let out another laugh as she thought back to the many snide

comments Erdene has made while he was in the office.

“It’s not all pride,” she admitted. Poppy did pride herself on being fiercely independent, but it was never a choice she actively made. It was more a result of the cards she had been dealt in life so far. “I just don’t really know how to handle it when people want to do or get things for me,” she shrugged again. “Especially without expecting anything in return,” she continued. “What do you mean?” He asked while reaching back down to grab the bags, nudging her wrist to follow him towards the ramen stand. “Oh, well I guess my ex always kept score on what he got me. He held everything over my head like a price I had to pay back. Not that I really could, I wasn’t allowed to have a job except for the internships I needed to do in order to graduate.”

“What do you mean you weren’t allowed to have a job Poppy?” Tora gritted through his teeth. Poppy became more ridged as she thought back to Julri and the way he would demand such a confusing set of rules for her. Without her parents or any siblings, she had always relied on him for that sense of family and love. Just thinking back to the details made herself feel ashamed for how much she let him get away with. Shaking her head, she came out of her spiraling thoughts.

“My ex did lots of stupid things. One of those things was that I couldn’t get a normal job like at a bar or café because he didn’t want other guys to hit on me or something like that. He said he wanted to take care of me and all that and well,” her pace started to slow as she dragged her feet through the gravel walkway; Tora patiently waited for her to continue. “I don’t have a lot of money now because of that. I couldn’t really save up all that much, but my granny helped me move out on my own when I took this job at Giant Goldfish.” Tora was practically fuming at her words. Not only because of what her ex manipulated her to do, but also at how easily she seemed to have accepted the pain of her treatment.

“Hey,” she said gently as she reached up to his neck, lightly grazing his prominent neck vein. “I know you’re getting mad, but really it's ok. I am ok now,” she gave him a weak smile as he tried to calm his heart rate.

“What else did he do,” Tora said angrily.

“Oh lots of stuff, the guy was a real butthead. But, Tora?” she pulled on his hand to get him to stop stomping through the crowd. “It’s in the past now, it’s for me to work through ok?” her brown eyes stared into his. He knew he wasn’t going to win any debate on this and in a way, he understood where she was coming from. He had his own past to deal with and the last thing he wanted was to bring Poppy into that part of his life.

“Ok, but I am defiantly beating his ass,” Tora said nonchalantly. Poppy smacked his bicep, “oh no you don’t. If anyone is beating his ass, it's me.” Tora contorted his mouth into an overly sarcastic “O” shape, “Bobby, did ya just swear?” She laughed again, “I only swear when it's necessary Tora. Unlike _someone_ I know.” She lightly jabbed the side of his torso with her finger making Tora dramatically wrap his arm around his stomach. The pair laughed again, the lingering tension leaving their conversation and minds as they finally found Cordy and Quincey. 

Unknown to them Quincey and Cordy watched the playful scene unfold as they approached the eating area. Wide smiles glued to their faces as they watched their friends be simply happy. A sense of warmth washed over Quincey, taking comfort in the fact that at least for this moment in the afternoon sunlight, Tora could be normal. He could be happy. Instinctively he reached for Cordy’s hand under the table and intertwined his fingers with hers. “ _That we could be happy,”_ he thought to himself as he felt her hand squeeze his back.

******

The ring of Quincey’s phone made the table rumble yet again, the metal of the phone and the metal of the table chiming together in the world’s most mediocre melody.

“That’s the third time in the last 15 minutes, shouldn’t someone answer it for him?” asked Poppy.

“Naw, Gods know Blondie would be pissed if we answered one of his many one-night stands and embarrassed him without his help,” Cordy chuckled. The girls were waiting at the table while Quincey and Tora went to get their food. _“A feast is more like it,”_ Poppy thought as she watched the boys balance trays of food from the various vendors along the edges of the eating area. “Gods those boys are going to take forever with how much food they are getting,” Cordy said after taking another sip of her water.

Cordy cocked her head towards Poppy, studying her for a moment as she noticed how Poppy’s eyes followed Tora around. “You two are hilarious, you know that?”

“What do you mean Cordy?” her cheeks becoming pink again after Cordy caught her staring.

“Both of you do the same thing while you’re not glued to each other,” she chuckled as she took another sip of water. Poppy raised an eyebrow towards her new friend, still confused as to what she meant. Rolling her eyes, Cordy continued, “you can’t take your eyes off each other.” A flirty smirk creeping across her face as she watched Poppy’s cheeks get even redder.

“I—I do not stare!”

“Oh-ho, yes you do sweety,” Cordy said with a wink. “I hardly blame you though, young love is always like that. So sweet, so intense.” Cordy’s eyes dropped slightly as if she was lost in a memory. Poppy threw her head into her hands to hide her face for a few moments, hoping that her cheeks would become less noticeably pink by the time she looked up. Poppy looked back up at her friend, her hands resting against the sides of her neck so she could let her elbows rest on the table. When she did look up, Cordy was still lost in thought. Her single earring glinting in the late afternoon sunlight.

“Hey Cordy, is that the same earring that Quincey has?”

Cordy looked back at her friend, absent-mindedly reaching up towards her ear to grab the silver cross between her fingers. “Oh this? Yeah, it’s the same one. Quincey only has one of his ears pierced and every earring comes as a set of two so,” she shrugged as to dismiss the gesture that it showed to the rest of the world. Although she would never call her on it, Poppy noticed the slight pink stain that crept across Cordy’s tan skin. They weren’t always the most affectionate couple in public, but their nearly matching outfits and haircuts sent a very distinct signal to the rest of the world.

“I wish I could get something like that for Tora,” Poppy blurted out. Her pupils going wide slightly at her sudden outburst which earned her a new wave of chuckles from Cordy.

“No offense Pops, but I don’t think you’d look good with spacers.”

“Oh no I wouldn’t do that and I wouldn’t want anything super noticeable so he could wear it even to work or something,” Poppy didn’t know why she was always so loose-lipped around Cordy. Something about her gaze made Poppy simply tell her everything.

“Hm, for work eh?” Cordy was there the night that Tora yelled that he was in the mafia in the middle of dinner so Poppy never understood why Cordy always had a sarcastic and slightly judgmental tone to any comments surrounding Tora’s job. Poppy cleared her throat, “um yeah something that’s within the dress code. So minimal and nothing super flashy or colourful. Something he could keep hidden easily if needed.”

“And you want it to match with you?” Cordy asked.

“Ha, I guess that’s going to be a hard bill to fit huh?”

Cordy brought the edge of her water bottle to the bottom of her lip, tapping it slightly while she thought. “Maybe, but I know there are some jewelry stands in the next row over from those boba tea stands,” she said while pointing vaguely across the food area. Poppy looked back in the direction she was pointing at and then scanned the crowd for Tora before locking eyes with her friend again. Poppy was about to speak when Cordy cut her off, “Go, go I’ll cover for you.”

“You’re the best Cordy! Thank you! I’ll be right back, like ten minutes not even!”

Cordy laughed again, “Yes, yes, now go my little love bird!”

Poppy quickly got up, grabbing her purse and phone before dashing off into the crowd to hunt down a gift for the both of them. She could feel Tora’s eyes on her back as she left the food area, but she didn’t look back. Instead, she quickly took out her phone to send off a message.

**Me: Just stepping out to look at something.**

**Me: Be back in like, 10! :)**

A few seconds later she saw his text bubbles popping up, she knew what he was going to say so she slid her phone back into her pocket. She felt few more buzzes than what she was expecting vibrate through her jean pocket, but she chose to ignore it.

Her eyes trailed up and down the booths that lined the gravel pathways, quickly scanning each display before moving on to the next one. _“Damn, I wish I had a bit more time so I don’t have to rush_ ,” she thought as she moves to yet another booth. “Do you see something you like?” a saleswoman asked. Poppy gave her a polite smile, “No not yet, but I’ll know it when I see it!”

Just before she moved on she saw something catch the light and turned her head towards a displace of gemstone bracelets and other jewelry. She moved over to them, leaning back on her heels to examine them. _“They’re pretty, but would he even like any of these?”_ she thought nervously to herself. “That’s a pretty necklace you got there,” said the saleswoman. Poppy looked down at the thin silver chain hanging around her neck, Tora’s ring hanging just below her collarbone. “Thank you,” she said quickly. Poppy still couldn’t believe that Tora had given her such a sentimental item to her. She was overwhelmed by the gesture originally, but now it became a staple in her everyday wardrobe.

And then she saw exactly what she was looking for. A gasp escaped the old saleswoman’s mouth when she saw Poppy reach down to pick up the jewelry making her pull her hand back abruptly. “Oh, I am sorry am I not supposed to touch?” she asked but the old woman grabbed Poppy’s hands and pulled them towards her. “My child are you ok? What happened here?” she asked as she turned over Poppy’s hands and inspected them. Poppy tried to pull them back, but the old woman’s grip was stronger than she thought. “Oh, a friend and I had um, boxing practice earlier this week,” Poppy said as evenly as possible. The old woman threw her a curious look, “I lost the fight,” Poppy said hoping the light tone and giggle after her response would be enough for the old lady to drop it and stop nearby onlookers from throwing curious glances her way.

“Well, a young lady should be more careful! What if you end up scaring your hands dong that?” the old woman continued. Poppy let out a polite laugh to ease the tension further, “I will keep that in mind and be more careful, I promise.”

“Good, good,” the old woman didn’t seem entirely convinced, but she didn’t press further. “Which item were you looking at dear?” she said while nodding her head towards Poppy. She pointed at the different options. Picking up the different pieces, she tried to imagine Tora wearing any of these. “ _Well he does wear your strawberry hair tie all the time, so I’m sure he’d like anything you got him_ ,” she thought to herself.

Confident in her choice she brought them over to the cash register, the golden sunlight from the setting sun catching the stones beautifully. A warm feeling spread throughout her body as the saleswoman gave Poppy the wrapped-up package. Running her fingers over the neat brown paper once more before placing it in her purse, she heard her name called out behind her. Her smile quickly faded when she heard the voice become louder.

“Poppy?” the familiar voice called out. She stood still, frozen in her place in front of the jewelry stand. The saleswoman throwing her a curious, concerned look.

“Poppy! Hey Poppy, is that you?”

_“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.”_

******

“ _It’s been too long, should I call her? No, you don’t want to be clingy or overprotective? Wait, do women like it when guys are like that? Yeah, yeah. Wait no, Poppy’s ex was like that, I don’t wanna be like that_ ,” he thought as he stabbed at his pork tonkatsu. His different anxieties mixing together like the ingredients of Quincey’s ramen. He looked over at the tray of untouched food next to him, the steam no longer leaving the bowl he had gotten for Poppy.

“Hey Tiger,” Cordy called, beckoning him to listen with a flick of her wrist. “Fresh Forest and Strawberries and Cream,” she said to him without looking up from her ramen. “Huh? You talkin’ in code now Cordy just to piss me off or—”

“It’s the scents dumbass,” her glare cutting through the steam rising from the broth. “The scents of the candles she was debating between earlier. Just in case you were wondering,” she shoved noodles into her mouth, turning her shoulder away from him.

Quincey shot Tora an apologetic look and lightly kicked Cordy’s boot under the table earning him annoyed looks from both sides of the table. Quincey let out a dramatic and frustrated sigh, “when will the two of you just get along?” He was met with silence and for once when his phone rang, he was actually relieved to have something to cut the tension.

**_< <Incoming call: Gyu>> _ **

“Hey, Gyu what’s up?”

“Do either of you even bother checking your phones anymore? Or do I just have to sit here and panic that—”

“Gyu, Gyu calm down. Listen sorry that we didn’t answer, but we were getting food so I just left my phone with Pops and Cordy.”

“Oh good she’s with you guys?” his relief made Quincey bring his eyebrows together in confusion, shooting a look towards Tora who had started to reach for his phone.

“Yes, of course—” he paused looking at Tora who now was scrolling quickly through his phone, his foot tapping aggressively on the ground as he watched him. Quicky then glanced to the very empty seat next to Tora.

“Well she isn’t at the moment, but like, she’s _with_ us here at the market why?”

“Some guy showed up here, said he was looking for Poppy. I didn’t recognize him and--”

“Wait what guy? Who—” before Quincey could finish his sentence Tora reached across the table and grabbed Quincey’s phone.

“Talk. Now Ronzo,” Gyu’s breathed heavily into the phone, his tried voice was strained

“As I was saying, that there was a guy who showed up at Poppy’s apartment like an hour ago. Scrawny fucker compared to you and Quincess. Said he was looking for Poppy, said he needed to talk to her or somethin’. I didn’t get his name, but he said he was a friend of hers. I got his license plate.” Tora could hear Gyu typing away on his keyboards within the apartment’s guard booth. “He was driving a rental truck, give me a few more seconds to see if I can hack into their GPS systems.”

Tora looked up at Quincey, the look in his eye speaking volumes. Quincey got up and started to clear the trays, placing leftovers in bags and cleaning up. His fast movements getting a concerned look from Cordy. “What’s going on Tiger?” she pressed. Tora never liked Cordy, but he knew that she cared for Poppy too. “We think someone’s tracking Poppy. Maybe Erdene too, something to do with the attack on Friday,” he said in a hushed tone. Cordy slowly nodded. She’s been around Tora and Quincey a lot longer than any of his boy’s other partners, she knew what this could mean. She began looking around the crowd for signs of Poppy, but she was too short to see in most places—let alone in a crowded marketplace.

“Blondie,” she tugged on his sleeve as he went to clear her tray. “She went one row over, to look for jewelry. Regardless of what’s going on she’s been gone too long, let’s go check up on her or call her first before tearing through the place.” Quincey nodded, grabbing Tora’s phone from across the table and dialing her number. “No answer,” he said flatly. Cordy called next. No answer either.

“Big Bro, he’s headed right towards you guys. East end of the market. Last time check was about 20 minutes ago,” Gyu said into Tora’s ear. “Thanks, Ronzo,” he said quickly, ending the call and handed the phone back to Quincey. “Where did you say she went?” his voice growing colder by the moment. Cordy swallowed the growing lump in her throat, “a row over on the east side of the market.” Jumping up from the table Tora started stalking through the crowd, pushing people out of the way as he went. Quincey grabbed the bags and Cordy’s hand and followed after Tora, apologizing to everyone they bulldozed into.

Tora repeatedly tried to call her as he ran, his heartbeat thumping in his ears. Quincey and Cordy caught up to him, their breathy gasps for air joining the rhythmic beat of Tora’s blood through his body. “Tora wait, slow down,” begged Quincey. Tora shot a deadly glance towards the blonde, “I let her get hurt once. I will never let that happen again.”

“I know that Tora, but I am saying take a look around. There are witnesses everywhere,” Quincey said out of breath while gesturing with his hand around the crowd. “Plus if they see your 6-foot ass charge at them at full force, who knows what rash decision they will do,” he continued. Cordy nodded in agreement, her hand to her ear as she tried to call Poppy again. Tora knew Quincey was right, he couldn’t go in fists flying when there were toddlers and old ladies trying to enjoy their Sunday afternoon shopping.

“I SEE HER!” Cordy yelled out, running into the crowd. Looking in her direction he caught the back of Poppy’s head, her brown hair shining in the golden light of the setting sun. Relief swept through his body, knowing that at least she was still within reach. Quincey started to follow Cordy when Tora’s large hand wrapped around his shoulder, yanking him backward. Quincey’s mouth opened to protest Tora’s manhandling, but he noticed his other hand squeezing into a tighter and tighter fist. “Her friend my ass,” Tora spat.

A man towered in front of Poppy, his dark brown hair drooping into his eyes as he talked erratically to her. His white t-shirt hanging off his thin frame, one hand clenched around a faded leather jacket his other hand set firmly into a fist. Tora recognized him from the caller ID photo that had popped up multiple times two weeks ago. “That guy is Poppy’s ex,” he said nodding towards Poppy’s location, the vein on his neck and forehead becoming more pronounced as he began to walk towards them. “Tora,” Quincey warned. “He isn’t clan, he may be an asshole, but he’s still a civilian. We can’t just go and ‘ _deal_ ’ with him,” he said calmly.

“Quince, I am not an idiot,” Tora said firmly. “Then what are we going to do? She looks uncomfortable,” they could both notice how she slightly quivered in her otherwise strong stance. Suddenly Tora let go of the vice grip on Quincey’s shoulders, shoving the extra bags he had into his friend’s chest. Tora began weaving through the crowd, doing his best to relax his stance and be as charismatic as possible when he arrived next to them. Tora noticed that for once people’s eyes weren’t trailing him, but instead looking towards the tall, brown-haired yelling down the path.

“What do you think you’re just so much better than me now is that it?” her ex-boyfriend yelled.

“N-no, I just didn’t have anything to say to you Julri,” she replied back, her voice set and firm.

“Yeah, well I have plenty still to say. You can’t just keep ignoring me, Poppy!” Julri continued.

“Julri, will you please stop yelling. People are staring, you’re causing a scene,” she whispered angrily towards him.

Julri’s nostril’s flared, he was used to Poppy being stubborn but she never talked back like this to him in public when they lived in Moonbright together. “Poppy,” he said in a low, threatening tone, “if that’s the case why don’t we—”

“Is everything ok sweetheart?” Tora asked, his arm sliding around Poppy’s waist. His sudden touch sending shivers up and down her spine as he pulled her in beside him. He masterfully concealed his temper behind a smug smile and relaxed posture, but Tora’s dangerous arura still seeped out around him—and it made the hairs on the back of Julri’s neck stand up.

“Is this guy bothering ya?” he asked again, this time turning his head to look down at her and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Letting his index finger slightly trail down her jaw before locking his eyes back onto her ex. He knew what he was doing, but he wasn’t going to leave the market today without making her ex squirm just a little bit.

Julri was seething, his anger bubbling to the surface as he watched Tora’s possessive grip on Poppy intensify as the moments passed on. Julri broke away from Tora’s stare to look back to the tiny woman pressed up beside him, “Poppy, who is th—”

“I’m fine Tora, thank you. No, he’s not bothering me. He was just leaving,” her eyes narrowing towards the disheveled man in front of her. “Weren’t you Julri?” her tone taking him by surprise yet again.

“By Hell, I wasn’t! Just who the _fuck_ is this guy Poppy?” he said gritted through his teeth.

“I hardly think that concerns you Julri,” her tone growing more defensive and agitated as she crossed her arms on top of her chest.

“Of fucking course it concerns me Poppy, I knew this would happen the moment you left for the big city,” his words were coated in contempt and judgment.

She was going to regret egging him on, the smart part of her brain screaming at her to just turn around and walk away. To leave him with the crowd of people and find that bowl of ramen she’s been wanting to eat since they first got there this afternoon. However, her stubbornness and curiosity once again got the better of her.

“And what the heck is that supposed to mean Julri?”

“Oh please _Poppylan_ , I knew you couldn’t make it here on your own. You just had to go and latch yourself onto the first guy who gave you attention. Like usual,” gesturing his chin towards Tora.

Tora shifted his stance, squaring his shoulders and gripping Poppy’s waist tighter. She could feel that his calm, charismatic façade was faltering the more Julri insulted her. His smile fading from his face and his other hand balling into a tight fist. Julri looked him up and down, noticing that his little taunts were working. _“Huh, all talk and no bite eh tough guy?”_ he foolishly thought to himself.

“Julri,” Poppy released herself from Tora’s grip and took a few tentative steps towards her ex.

“Poppy,” he replied. A smirk crawling across his face as he stared down his tiny ex-girlfriend. 

“You do not get to come all the way here, make a scene in front of a bunch of people, insult me, and imply that **_I_** am somehow a naïve child in all of this,” she scoffed.

Julri took another step towards her, the tips of their shoes practically touching. “Oh, yeah? You absolutely sure about that _sweetheart_?” he lowered his head to be eye level with her. He glanced back towards Tora over her shoulder and then set his eyes back on her. “I’m not the one who ran away to a far-off place,” his voice barely a whisper in her ear, but it was deafening to her. She did her best to push the memories his comment triggered back down into the depths of her mind, but she couldn’t shake the chill that now filled her body.

“I-I d-don’t need you anymore Julri, please just leave me alone and go home,” she whispered back.

He laughed as he stood back up, “Why? Because you got some other—”

As his eyes trailed over her skin, Julri finally noticed the light bruising and scrapes that she had tried to hide under makeup and bandages. He grabbed her wrist, pulling it towards his face to inspect them before shooting daggers towards Tora. His chest heaving with anger.

“How. Fucking. Dare. You,” he spat towards Tora. “Did you fucking do this!” he roared

“Julri, STOP! You don’t know—”

“Shut the fuck up Poppylan, he hurt you! Didn’t he?” he yelled. Nearby shoppers either leaving the scene in case a fight broke out or staying because they wanted to see.

Tora straighter his posture, his jaw set so firmly that he thought his teeth could break. _“Oh shit,”_ he thought to himself. The bystanders around the couple already passing judgment on Tora which did nothing to quell the bubbling mix of emotions swirling inside of him. He started to walk slowly towards Poppy and Julri.

“I would never hurt her or any woman you sick fuck,” he said as firmly as he could.

“Pft, as if I’d or anyone else believe that _you thug_ ,” Julri held Poppy’s wrist tighter, attempting to pull her behind him.

“You want me to be a thug?” he cracked his knuckles then, loud pops echoing through the narrowing space between them. “I’ll fucking show you,” he hissed towards Julri.

“Bring it on tough guy,” Julri dropped his coat. _“One punch and that all it takes, just fucking do it you dumbass,”_ his cunning thought matched the smug smile still on his face.

“Tora, STOP!” she stepped out from where Julri had held her, placing her palm against Tora’s chest while yanking her wrist free from her ex’s boney fingers.

“He’s just trying to get you to hit first, don’t let him get to you. It isn’t your fight.”

She knew she couldn’t actually stop Tora even if she wanted to, a vengeful part of herself wanted him to hit Julri with everything he had. She wanted to see the smug look off her ex’s face be literally wiped off, but if Tora hit him, she knew it would only confirm the bystander's suspicions. “ _Tora is not a monster_ , _unlike someone I know,_ ” she thought.

She could feel his rapid heartrate under his shirt, his cotton shirt doing nothing to stop the heat of his from burning through to her fingers. “Bobby,” he warned. He placed a hand softly on her shoulder, but he wasn’t looking at her.

“You’re going to pick this thug, over me?” he laughed, “He’s hurt you. He’s—”

Poppy spun on her heel, raised her fist and connected it with Julri’s jaw. He staggered backward, his hand reaching up to his face. His eyes showing surprise and hurt, the crowd filling with murmurs and gasps. Tora didn’t know how to react, his mouth just stayed set in a firm line.

“You have no idea who he is Julri,” she said while flexing her hand to relieve the slight sting in her fingers.

“What happened to my pretty little flower?” he chuckled as he wiped the slight amount of blood off his chin.

“I’ve changed, unlike you. You’re still the same piece of shit that I left after I caught you cheating on me,” she said firmly. “I do not need you or anyone else Julri, so please just leave and go back to Mimi.”

Whispers grew more numerous as security guards pushed their way through the crowd. “As much as I love seeing you beat the crap out of him, we better go sweetheart,” Tora said from behind her. Poppy held Julri’s glare for a moment more before sighing heavily, “Goodbye Julri.”

“This isn’t finished Poppy!” he said while grabbing his coat now dusted with grey and brown.

“Yes. It is.” she said, reaching for Tora’s hand as she turned away from him.

“You don’t get to just walk away from me Poppylan,” he reached out to grab her free hand.

Quincey stepped out from the crowd, Cordy following behind him. He grabbed Julri’s shoulder, “I think she does.” Julri shoved Quincey’s hand off of him ready to throw a punch when the security guards broke the circle of bystanders.

“What’s going on here?”

“My apologies officers, my friends and I had a bit of an understanding with an ex of hers,” he said pointing his thumb back towards Poppy. Quincey slung his arm around Julri, “isn’t that right buddy?”

“Y-yeah” he muttered.

“Well then take your girl problems somewhere else, we don’t want any more disturbances today,” the officer said, already bored out of his mind with the ordeal.

“Of course, of course, officer. Again, my apologies,” Quincey said sweetly.

“Alright everyone, there’s nothing to see here. Go on now,” the other officer said to the crowd of people who were a little too invested in the fight.

As the officers walked away, the crowd dispersed with them. Julri tried to pry himself away from Quincey’s grip but failed to as Quincey dug his nails into his shoulder.

“Sugarplum?” he cooed. Cordy stepped up beside the boys, looking bored at her nails.

“Do me a favour and take Poppy back to have some lunch, I’m sure she’s famished”

Cordy walked up to the blonde, placing a kiss on his cheek. “Sure thing Blondie.”

“Poppy?” she called, extending a hand towards her.

Poppy threw Tora a nervous look which earned her a smirk from him. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Don’t worry sweetheart, I won’t do anything stupid. Go with Cordy.” She didn’t know how much he believed him, his smirk growing a bit too wide as he set his eyes on Julri.

She nodded and let go of his hand, linking arms with Cordy and walking away with her back towards the eating area. Poppy looked back at the boys, but her eyes caught the old woman still in her jewelry booth. The old woman threw her thumbs up at Poppy, tossing a wink in for good measure. Poppy giggled and smiled back at the old saleswoman before turning towards Cordy.

“Remind me to never piss you off,” Cordy chuckled.

******

Tora came up on the other side of Julri so that he was wedged between the two of them. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, exhaling the smoke into Julri’s face.

“Walk,” Tora commanded.

The three of them walked past the rows to enter the public park, the boys pushing Julri along until they found a secluded collection of trees away from the main path. Quincey let Julri’s shoulder go and propped himself up against a nearby tree. “Don’t get blood on yourself Tora, I don’t this shit-sticks fluids on yet another one of my friends today,” Quincey said lazily.

Julri panicked for a split second, turning around to face the arrogant blonde when Tora’s fist connected with his chest. Julri fell to the ground, completely winded from the blow. Before he could catch his breath Tora kicked him back towards another tree, sending him into another coughing fit.

Julri tried to stand, but Tora pushed him back down with his boot. Julri whipped his head towards Tora, his eyes filled with fear and hatred. When Julri stumbled to his feet Tora punched his chest again which sent him flying backward into a tree. His white shirt now stained brown. Julri quickly looked between Tora and Quincey, his anger building further when he noticed just how nonchalant the two of them were. 

Quincey cleared his throat.

“Listen, I’m going to level will you,” he paused looking him up and down, “um, what was your name again? Jewelry?”

“J-Julri,” he breathed.

“Ok, _Julri_ ,” Quincey pushed off the tree and uncrossed his arms. “Here is what you’re going to do. You’re going to leave Ms. Poppy alone. You’re going to leave her friends and family alone. And you’re going to stay the Hell out of my city. Do you understand?”

“H-Ha or what pretty boy? You gonna get daddy to sue me or something?” he taunted.

Quincey chuckled, his bright turquoise eyes becoming a stormy blue as he stalked towards him. Julri gulped as he felt the ominous energy radiate from the once bubbly-blonde. Quincey cocked his head to the side, taking off his many rings before he wound his hand back and punched Julri in the jaw.

Julri collapsed to the floor, his vision going blurry as Quincey squatted down beside him.

“Yeah,” he laughed again, “something like that.”

“W-who the fu-uck are you g-guys?” Julri said, spitting out pink salvia in front of Quincey’s shoe.

“Hmm, that depends. Tora? Who are we?”

The slight cheerful tone of Quincey’s voice sent panic through Julri’s body. “ _These guys are fucking psychos_ ,” he thought as Tora stopped his cigarette into the bloody spit he coughed up.

“We are very nice people,” Tora began. He picked Julri up by the back of his neck, yanking him up so he could look him in the eyes. “But if ya push it, I’ll send ya into an early grave. Ya got that?”

“So, do I need to repeat myself? Or do you understand?” Quincey said as he stood up to straighten his pants.

Julri looked into Tora’s golden eyes, seeing his own terrified reflection in Tora’s pupils. He glanced back towards Quincey, his eyes narrowed and icy. Swallowing the bloody spit in his throat he nodded slowly. Tora released his grip on Julri, the man stumbling away from the two of them.

“Ok good,” Quincey clapped his hands together, “now scram you _weasel_.”

Julri took one last look at them before booking it out of the clearing back towards the rows of booths and crowds of people. _Tsk, tsk, tsk_ , Quincey clicked his tongue while putting his rings back on.

“Thanks,” Tora said quickly.

“Hey, what are friends for?” he shrugged.

“You didn’t have to get involved Quince,” Tora said.

“Evidently, neither did you. Our little Poppy could have taken care of that herself fully, you just wanted to show off,” he said with a wink.

Tora took out another cigarette, placing it in his mouth. _“Shit I need to calm down,”_ he thought to himself. His inner demon trying to convince him to go chase down Julri and beat the ever-loving shit out of him. 

“I’ve got to say, I figured you’d be more ruthless when your girl and your pride were attacked so publicly. Is the Tiger of Ares Street losing his touch?” Quincey teased.

“Fuck off Quince,” he said under his breath.

“Although I can see why you didn’t,” Quincey eyed his friend from across the clearing. Waiting to see how long Tora’s temper could really be contained.

“I fucking wanted to, naw, _want_ to go and kill that fucker. That little shit isn’t going to listen, I can tell by looking in his eyes,” Tora exhaled more smoke into the air.

“I mean we can, I can call Dad right now—”

“Don’t be fucking dumb Quinceton. I ain’t going to kill him just because he’s an asshole and hurt her feelings. And besides, I couldn’t do that to her,” he tilted his head back blowing the smoke high up into the air above him.

“And you don’t go doing anything either ya asshole, this doesn’t concern you. Just stay outta it,” Tora continued. 

“She’s not just _your_ girlfriend, she’s quickly taking your place as _my_ best friend,” he laughed while running his fingers through his bangs, looking at his phone screen to make sure they sat just right. “So I am deciding it concerns me,” he said as he made his way out of the clearing.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Tora huffed. Quincey turned slowly, planning on saying some snarky comment but was met with Tora’s slightly hunched shoulders. Rolling his eyes, he slapped his back and began to push them forward back towards the direction of the girls. “Yet,” he began, “She’s not your girlfriend, _yet_.”

Tora couldn’t help it, he smiled at his friend's childish taunts. Before Poppy, his life was more of a hellhole than it currently is, but now he had her. Even thinking about her sent a warm feeling through his chest and kept his smile plastered on his face despite the taunts he was sure to get from Quincey and anyone else who recognized him.

Tora’s thoughts were interrupted by the buzz of his phone. Reaching into his pocket he pulled it out alongside the strawberry hair tie Poppy gave him. The warm, fuzzy feeling he had drained from his body when he saw the caller.

**_< <Incoming call: Vincent>>_ **

****

“Hello?”

“Tora, my boy,” Vincent said smoothly into the speaker. Tora stayed silent.

“We need to chat, come by my office later tonight.”

******

**_*One month ago; Narin City—East Loading Docks, HarbourFront*_ **

****

“DAMMIT,” the man yelled.

The office above one of the warehouses on the east loading dock was in complete disarray. Documents, transcripts, and maps were littered around stray dollar bills and cigarette buds. The weak fluorescent bulb hanging off the ceiling swaying slightly with the draft coming in from under the door.

“Where is it! Where the fuck is it,” the man yelled again into the room. Around the table, a few men nervously flung looks at one another.

A knock echoed through the room, the one man at the front of the table shooting the door with a wicked, unhinged look in his eyes. “Well, will someone fucking go open it!”

A short man swiftly got up from the table, tripping over some loose paperwork on the way to the door. Reaching the handle, he twisted it open. The man on the other side of the door looked down at him, a shit-eating grin met the eyes of the cowering underling.

The man pushed his way inside, his dreadlocks swaging with his confident walk. “Well, well, well, this place looks like shit,” he said as he gestured around the room. He sauntered around the room, letting his eyes roam the space and all of its contents. “You look like shit,” another man replied from across the table.

“Yeah well spendin’ a few weeks in the hospital will do that to ya,” he replied casually as he grabbed the empty seat next to the head of the table. He leaned back in the chair, putting his hands behind his head.

“Any luck getting information on the notebook?” the man who had yelled earlier was now tapping his foot excessively as his wild eyes became set on the cocky man next to him. He turned his head to the side, letting his black eyes comb over the twitchy man. With a sigh he continued, “Go get your fix man, you’re making all of us fuckin’ nervous.”

“I’ll smoke when I wanna smoke jackass, did you get any info on the notebook or naw?” he said angrily.

“Wow, right out the hospital and already working me to the bone eh?”

“Boss isn’t playing around anymore, he wants the lieutenant’s notebook,” he growled back.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah I know. I’m just bustin’ your balls,” he looked past the twitchy man back towards the door, “OI! Gil, get your ass in here buddy!”

Gil shuffled in, he wasn’t used to his friend ever bringing him to the hideouts of the clans or anything other than a bar or strip club on Ares Street. He closed the door behind him, internally yelling at himself for not bringing a gun or some weapon with him.

“Oi, Gil! Thanks for comin’!” the deadlocked man said.

“N-no problem, buddy,” he said nervously.

“Did ya bring what I asked for?”

Gil just nodded. He swung his bookbag forward and rested it on the table. Clicking it open he began shuffling through the papers to pull out a single sheet from the black notebook. Pulling his sweater sleeve down over his fingers, Gil pulled out the sheet and handed it towards his friend.

“This is it?” the deadlocked man said in a low tone.

“I want something in return for this, you knew that,” Gil said firmly.

“Of course, of course. How silly of me,” he said in a dangerous tone making a bead of sweat run down the back of Gil’s neck.

“Gentlemen, if you could leave my friend and me that would be much apricated. Alone please.”

All the other men got up and shuffled out of the room, grateful to be out of the negotiation process. The last to get up was the twitchy man, giving the man with dreadlocks an irritated look before also leaving the room. Once the door clicked shut, Gil let out a sigh.

“Gil, my man, you gotta fuckin’ relax. I ain’t gonna kill ya,” he laughed.

“I know you won’t. Twitchy and the other dudes though? Not too sure.”

“Fair, fair. Come take a seat brother, stay awhile.”

Gil walked over and sat down as instructed. He didn’t trust his so-called friend as much as he let on, but he has a sneaking suspicion his friend knew that too.

“The rest of the notebook is safe for now, I brought the page as proof,” Gil said confidently.

“Figured as much, but I gotta ask. How did ya find this thing? I know you’re a publisher, but you haven’t even used it yet to expose the clans.”

“More money doing it this way,” Gil shrugged. “Safer too,” he finished.

“So you just happened to come across it? I find that hard to believe Gil,” his eyes narrowing as he continued to press for more details.

Gil wasn’t usually the type to care all that much about anyone, but himself. His history with the clans of Narin City made sure of that. However, telling his friend the truth was going to put his staff in danger.

“I want double the investment from the Nine Daggers and foreign backers,” his tone as firm as he could muster.

“Done.”

Gil’s phone confirmed the deal as it buzzed with email notifications. A sly smile gracing his lips as he watched his bank account nearly triple.

“One of my employees, a new hire. She brought into the office one day. She just left it there on her desk, so I doubt she knew what she even had.”

“Name?”

“Poppylan Wilkes, some country bumpkin from Moonbright.”

“What she look like?”

“Standard. She’s got brown hair, brown eyes, kinda plump but has a nice set of curves,” he chuckled.

“Send me a photo of her and her info. I’m talking address, number, fucking birthday. The whole lot.”

“Sure thing buddy,” Gil felt conflicted for a moment. He looked down at his phone as the rest of the investments started to trickle into his bank account. “ _Nothing personal sweetheart,_ ” he thought.

Gil got up to leave, packing up his book bag when he looked back at his friend. His black eyes swirling with ideas he didn’t want to be privy to.

“When do you want the notebook?”

“Not for a few weeks, I need to get that girl first”

Gil paused, confused but decided not to press.

“You should know that she just signed on Q.B Noyouko. He’s formally working for us now for a new contract she got from Mr. Lam”

The man’s black eyes narrowed, running his hand over his face before looking back at Gil.

“Fucking Balthuman,” he spat out. He turned towards Gil, looking suspiciously at his friend. “So, if she got the investment and the heir to the most dangerous clan in the city to sign on with ya within what?”

“About a month of her starting,” Gil confirmed.

“What makes you think she doesn’t know what she had? How else would she have secured that deal?”

Gil processed what he heard, playing the situation out in his head. “It’s possible, but she’s acting too carefree to be involved with the Balthuman’s. Too careless.”

“Maybe she’s too fucking dumb,” the dreadlocked man scoffed.

“Maybe,” Gil repeated.

Gil clipped his bag together and threw it over his shoulder. He extended his hand to the man, shuttering slightly when his pale, boney hand gripped his.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, what the fuck happened to you?” Gil pointed his finger towards the man’s jaw. “You were gone for weeks, I was getting worried.”

“The Tiger of Ares Street fucking happened to me, that’s what,” venom coating every word as he spoke.

Gil raised an eyebrow, he didn’t recognize the name but assumed it was yet another one of the up-and-coming clan members that his friend had pissed off. Judging by the scars across his face, whoever did this to him can do a lot of damage.

“I’m going to make him pay for what he did to me, the fucker won’t know what hit him.”

“I’m sure you will.”

Letting go of his hand Gil walked back towards the door. The man sat back down in his chair, waving the sheet back and forth in front of his face. His shit-eating grin returning to his face.

“I would get out of town once I come to get that girl. Singapore maybe?” he called from the table.

Gil turned to face him, his hand on the doorknob. He felt a sick feeling in his stomach at his words. “ _Nothing personal sweetheart_ ” he repeated. He felt his phone buzz again, looking at the screen he saw foreign currency flood his accounts. The sick feeling vanishing from his body.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Gil’s eyes meeting the menacing gaze of his friend’s black eyes, “Yadori.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I’m going to be real with you all. I re-read my earlier chapters and I kinda cringed. Do any of my fellow writers get like that or is my writing actually as rough as I think it is? I have been reading a lot of other fics that have updated in the few weeks I have stepped away from writing and I honestly am in awe of how awesome y’all are! It’s crazy! I had to update my plot tree after reading two other fics because I realized that the plots were getting too similar and I never want to make anyone feel like I am copying their work. 
> 
> That all being said I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Spoiler, I have also written the next two chapters as well, but I am going to just update this fic once or twice a week so I can spread out my writing in-between my school work. After re-reading the last four chapters I realized that there are just some trash plotholes/lazy writing moments that kinda hinder the story a bit, but I hope my writing will improve the more I write! On a side note, does anyone know which pronouns Cordy uses? I don’t remember if it was stated in the webcomic or if was in fan group chats, but I just want to make sure I am using the right ones!
> 
> Cheers!


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